After three wins this week, the Miami Heat regained a place among the Top 10 teams.
This week, the Heat moved up to No. 9. The team had four games on the schedule this week, three of them on the road. Even with the offense’s inefficiency, the Heat closed strong.
In an article posted to NBA.com, a takeaway on the team’s play was described by focusing on the team’s performance at the end of games. Here’s what longtime writer John Schuhmann wrote:
“With ugly offense on both ends of the floor and with the Heat playing at a pretty slow pace, six of their last seven games have been within five points in the last five minutes. The Heat have scored just 42 points on 50 clutch possessions over that stretch, but [Tyler] Herro now leads the league with five buckets to tie or take the lead in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime, having drained the game-winner in Orlando on Thursday.”
With a 16-14 record, the Heat sit with the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. The seventh seed would give the Heat the highest seed in the Play-In Tournament. The Cavaliers, Celtics and Knicks have established themselves as top-tier teams in the East. However, the rest of the conference is up for grabs. The Heat stand two games back from the No. 4 seed Magic and 10.5 games back from the No. 1 seed, held by Cleveland.
Heat star Jimmy Butler is expected to return this week after an illness. The Heat have three games at home, a back-to-back Wednesday and Thursday against the injury-plagued New Orleans Pelicans and Indiana Pacers. The week concludes Saturday against the Utah Jazz.
Sean Jordan is a contributor to Miami Heat On Sports Illustrated. He can be reached at sjorda06@syr.edu.
The Miami Heat are above .500 this season largely because of the play of guard Tyler Herro.
Herro isn’t going unnoticed while posting career-highs in multiple categories.
Amid his breakout season, Herro is now the frontrunner to win the Most Improved Player award. Herro’s odds sit at +275 on DraftKings Sportsbook, ahead of other young stars Jalen Johnson, Jalen Williams and Cade Cunningham. Before the season, Herro was not even on the list of 22 players who were considered early favorites to take home the award.
This season, Herro is averaging 24 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists. He is also shooting 47 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc. All these statistics are career-highs.
Earlier this month, Herro joined elite company among the likes of perennial All-Star talents Donovan Mitchell and Jayson Tatum. He became one of only three players to have scored at least 550 points, while adding 120 rebounds, 110 assists and 90 three-pointers this season.
Herro entered the NBA as a 2019 first-round pick and contributed immediately, helping lead the team to a Finals appearance in the COVID-riddled 2020 season. Over the next few seasons, he carved himself a role as a spark plug off the bench. This year, he has come into his own as an efficient scoring threat.
With all the success Herro is having this season, the next step for him is securing an All-Star nod.
Sean Jordan is a contributor to Miami Heat On Sports Illustrated. He can be reached at sjorda06@syr.edu.
