With how the season has played out, it only made sense for the Miami Heat to lose in dramatic fashion against a team that swept them in the regular season and ultimately end their slim playoff chances.
Instead, from start to finish, the Miami Heat dominated the Chicago Bulls with a 109-90 win Wednesday night at United Center in their first game of the play-in tournament. The Heat will face the Hawks in Atlanta on Friday for a chance to make the playoffs as the No. 8 seed.
A lot of credit needs to be given to the coaching staff and players for putting forth a defensive gem. The 90 points scored by Chicago marked a season low, and although the Bulls had their spurts, there was no point in the game where the Heat seemed to have no answers for what the Bulls were throwing at them.
With that being said, Tyler Herro’s performance is the highlight of the night. With the Heat’s season on the line, Herro put up one of the best performances of his career, scoring 38 points on 13-for-19 shooting.
Tyler was a Herro when Miami needed him the most.
Looking at the Bulls’ personnel, with all due respect, there is no player on their roster that has the tools to guard Herro. Herro smelled blood in the water from opening tip and put together a perfect first half (literally).
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1912668438218305900?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
To open the game, Herro took advantage of Chicago’s lack of rim protection, making his first three shots at the rim and got there with ease.
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As the game progressed, Herro’s confidence beginning to grow and his range began to expand, drilling very tough step back 3-pointers that were nothing but net.
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The best part about Herro’s performance is that nothing felt forced, he got to his spots whenever he wanted and picked Chicago to pieces. Whether it was in isolation situations or coming off of screens, a majority of Herro’s looks were clean. And even if there was some resistance, Herro got to a mode where no defense mattered anymore, he was going to score regardless of what was thrown at him.
Tell us how you really feel, @raf_tyler 🙌 https://t.co/fj5dTsp3fL pic.twitter.com/oePrbIP3tJ
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One of my favorite moments of the game came in the fourth quarter when Herro was called for an offensive foul on his 3-pointer due to him extending his leg. You can tell Herro was frustrated not only that was called on him, but that Spoelstra’s challenge failed. Herro stayed in attack mode and shortly after got to the line by drawing a foul on Josh Giddey.
Around the seven-minute mark, Herro got to the line again, this time drawing a foul on Matas Buzelis, a call that was challenged by Billy Donovan that ultimately failed.
In those two moments, I loved that Herro managed to slow the game down and extend the Heat lead knowing their history of fourth quarters against the Bulls. I also enjoyed the “what goes around comes around” moment with the Bulls challenging a call that also ended up being unsuccessful.
This was a remarkable performance from Herro. But in the grand scheme, the Heat still need to win another game to advance to the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season. If they want to accomplish that goal, another Herro gem will give them a great chance to be the first 10th seed to make the playoffs.
