Heat’s Tyler Herro finds positives amid Game 1 struggles vs. Celtics

Spoelstra talks Boston’s game plan against Herro in Game 1 loss

Herro would finish the game with just 11 points off of making four of 13 shots from the field to go along with four rebounds and four assists. It was clear that the Celtics were focused on trying to make him a non-factor on the offensive end since he would be one of the Heat’s main pieces with the aforementioned absences of Butler and Rozier.

This was key right from the start of the game where Miami is at their best when star Bam Adebayo and Herro are clicking, but Boston shut it down immediately. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints that the Celtics had “intentions to put a lot of pressure on him” in different situations when the ball was in his hands.

“They came out with intentions to put a lot of pressure on him,” Spoelstra said. “Whether it was on the ball, pick and rolls, or off the ball movement, we had to come up with some ways to shake him free and get into the strength zones within the context of what we do. That’s the playoffs, they’re doing stuff to get their best players activated and we have to do things that you know get our best players going. And then also other guys stepping up and making some plays to keep them honest.”

Herro talks the positives in Game 1 for the Heat despite defeat

Despite the ugly loss, there were some positives whether it be Adebayo’s performance, rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s outing, or the collective team effort in the fourth quarter where Miami brought down a 35-point lead to 15 points. Herro would say after the game that the run towards the end is an aspect to take into the next game.

“I think there’s some positives to take away. Obviously, they really opened it up there the second, third quarter, hit a couple of threes, not a lot of threes, which really open it up but I liked how we fought in the fourth quarter,” Herro said. “You know, getting back to you know, 10-15. I think our big emphasis going into fourth was come up with some solutions and figure out what we can take from the fourth quarter into the next game. And I think we did pretty well with that. We just had to continue to watch this film and see what we can do to to adjust with the neck.”

With the Heat now down 0-1 in the series, they look to come out much hotter in Game 2 and try to make this a competitive series as they aim to come back home with a win under their belt. Miami’s next opportunity is Wednesday night at TD Garden where they look to avoid a 0-2 deficit.