Next goal for Heat is to get Tyler Herro playing every quarter like it’s the fourth

The mistake, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, was his.

Through three quarters of Sunday night’s victory over the Detroit Pistons, Tyler Herro was playing like it was only the first three quarters.

“I’m just going to write fourth quarter on every notepad to Tyler in every other quarter, because he has that clutch gene, he really does,” Spoelstra said of his fourth-year guard. “It doesn’t matter what’s happening during the course of the game. He’s a killer down the stretch. He loves those moments. He lives for those moments. He’ll knock some really tough shots down in those moments "

Over Sunday’s first three quarters at Little Caesars Arena, Herro was 3 of 12 from the field, including 1 of 7 on 3-pointers, with the Heat outscored by six when he was on the court, down by seven entering the fourth.

And then the clutch gene kicked in, with Herro 4 of 5 from the field, including 2 of 2 on 3-pointers, for 12 points in the fourth, the Heat outscoring the Pistons by 19 in the quarter.

Then again, it is who he has been this season.

Herro exited Sunday’s game leading the league with a plus 87 plus/minus total in clutch minutes this season, minutes when games are within five points in the final five minutes. He also has a league-high 19 3-pointers in clutch minutes, and is 12th in the league in clutch points, ahead of players such as LeBron James, Jayson Tatum and Stephen Curry. That, of course, also is a factor of the Heat having played a league-high 50 clutch games this season.

“It’s something I’ve built over three, four years here,” Herro said, with the Heat idle until Wednesday night’s game against the New York Knicks at Miami-Dade Arena. “My teammates and coaches trust me late in the game, really the whole game, with the ball. They rely on me to make the right plays and I feel like I got to do a little bit better job throughout the first couple quarters just taking care of the ball.

“Like I said, not worried about my shots, but just being more active and things like that. So it’s good to get the win and enjoy these couple days off and get ready for New York.”

As for Spoelstra trying to memo him that every quarter is the fourth quarter, Herro laughed.

“If he starts doing that, I actually might like that,” he said with a smile. “That actually might give me a little bit more confidence.”

In the pantheon of those who have played with irrational confidence over the franchise’s 35 seasons, a group arguably headed by Dion Waiters, Herro has shown he is right up there.

“Yeah, you just got to continue to work the game,” he said. “It’s a 48-minute game. It’s a long game. A lot can happen in between those 48 minutes. So just got to stick with it, stay aggressive and my shot is going to fall.”

Butler, too

In addition to Herro’s 12 points, the Heat got 10 from forward Jimmy Butler in the fourth quarter against the Pistons.

Butler is sixth in the league in clutch points, despite missing 10 of the Heat’s 50 clutch games. He is tied with Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan for most free throws during clutch minutes, second to DeRozan in free throws made in those situations.

“I think I just be hoopin’, I be playing basketball the right way. I’m aggressive. I attack. I try to get two feet in the paint,” Butler said of his fourth-quarter offense. “Get my shooters open shots. Get the ball to Bam [Adebayo], whoever it may be. If I can, put the ball in the basket.

“I play the game one through four [quarters], it just seems I don’t shoot the ball as much the first three quarters.”

Defense, too

In addition to the late offense, the Heat put it away with defense Sunday, limiting Detroit to 19 points on 6-of-19 shooting in the fourth quarter.

“When we want to guard, we guard,” Butler said, with the Heat’s defense previously having fallen off since the All-Star break. " It’s the most incredible/amazing thing, how we’re very, very capable of getting stops whenever we want to.

“We don’t glitch, like Spo says, when we do things the right way, with high effort, and we’re just flying around on both sides of the ball.”

()

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/D20OYfV