Tyler Herro’s Game 2 bounce-back draws eye-opening Erik Spoelstra take

“It was really important to have that understanding that you have to be open to all things that present in a playoff game,” Spoelstra said. “We need his aggressiveness, we need his scoring, we need his shooting, we need his playmaking. Depending on the possession, it could be any one of those things. But he was good on both ends of the court. He was very good defensively, he was competing on that end.”

Spoelstra said that Herro will always be involved with the Heat’s offense based on how the team looks right now, which is essentially code for “without their two best ball-handlers.” Against a team as good as the Celtics, it can be daunting to not only score on their defense but keep up with them on offense. In arguably his best playoff game ever, Herro did just that.

Tyler Herro dominates in Heat’s Game 2 win vs. Celtics

Herro is no stranger to putting up a big game against the Celtics in the playoffs. As a rookie, he dropped 37 points on them in Game 4 of the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals. That game saw Herro score the ball with ruthless confidence and efficiency. This time around, Herro displayed his growth as a player by setting up himself and his teammates.

As inconsistent as Herro might be — look no further for a bad performance on a big stage than when he shot 9-27 in the Heat’s play-in-game loss to the Philadelphia 76ers — he has the potential to be a high-level contributor on any given night. While the Celtics perhaps made it a bit easy for him to dice them up with a horribly executed game plan, he still took advantage nonetheless. He also shot 7-13 from the field, including 6-11 from deep.

Injuries derailed Herro’s playoffs last season as the Heat went on to the NBA Finals. Should the Heat look to trade for another star, it seems likely that Herro’s contract would be used for salary-matching purposes. For the time being, all he can do is help the team compete in another uphill playoff battle.

The series now turns to Miami for Game 3 on Saturday. Tyler Herro will once again be called upon to create offense for the Heat. The questions remain, though, about how the Celtics will adjust and whether Herro can keep it up.