Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Tyler Herro shined in his return, and the Heat’s defense bailed them out against the Mavericks

A little closer to comfort for their liking, but the Heat put down the Mavericks in Tyler Herro’s return, winning their fifth in a row and giving top overall pick Cooper Flagg a warm welcome to the league by holding him to 12 points on 35.7% shooting. Their half-court offense was neutralized, but they made up for it by denying the Mavs prosperity in the lane. 

Each side started in the mud, but Kel’el Ware was the team’s first-half MVP, pulling down 10 rebounds and scoring 15 points on rim attacks, including two lobs and a few 3-point shots. And next was Herro, who missed his initial four attempts because he was pressing. He went on to close the half on a quick flurry, making his next four shots, racing in transition and blowing by them for two floaters.

Ware’s scoring cooled off in the next half, but his pursuit of rebounds did not, recording eight more. Herro’s run then extended, and his consecutive shots reached nine without a miss, on step-back jumpers and drive-bys. After the game, Jaime Jaquez Jr. said, “It was like he never left.”

Naturally, the Mavericks erased the Heat’s 11-point fourth-quarter lead, and Herro lived up to his name, dribbling into the lane, making three floaters. Bam Adebayo subsequently iced the game with two freebies after. 

The Heat won 106-102 on their worst 3-point shooting night of the season (18.5%). Ware made three of the team’s five treys. Pelle Larsson and Keshad Johnson had the other two. Their record is now 12-6.

Ware said in the locker room about Herro, “Y’all seen what he can do last year. For him coming back doing that his first game back after being away for awhile, is something special. I’m just looking [forward] to the next few games.”

Game Notes

• The Heat’s 106 points are the second-lowest output of the season, after 18 games. Keep in mind that last year’s club logged below 106 points 24 times. They played significantly slower than normal, at a slightly above-average pace, yet the defense did a lot of bailing them out. They held the Mavs to 83.9 points per 100 half-court plays, which is good enough for the 16th percentile. Adebayo said post game, “We are going to always hang our hat on getting stops. 

• Dallas’ biggest threats in the fourth quarter were P.J. Washington, Max Christie and Flagg, as they combined for 18 points. The Heat’s biggest stop of the night came with the game tied at 49 seconds left. Adebayo intercepted the sideline inbound, which resulted in Herro burying a 10-foot floater over Washington, the man who turned it over.

• Norman Powell was ruled out because of a groin strain. He is the Heat’s best 3-point shooter, aside from being a dependable inside scorer. While the offensive struggles wouldn’t have been as severe with him playing, there is more to this story.  The team was tight because of the weight of the night. Six of their seven missed free throws were in the first half, four belonging to Adebayo.

• Johnson had another fine game, infusing the team with hustle as he defended and crashed the glass in nearly 18 minutes, totaling seven points, three rebounds, including two offensive. He plays hard because, as the 11th man in the rotation, they sometimes don’t know when they’ll get minutes again, and his opening remains while Andrew Wiggins (hip flexor) and Powell are out. 

• Monday’s win completes the Heat’s third back-to-back set of the season. The only one of those lost (5-1) was the match in Los Angeles against the Lakers on Nov. 2.