When Tyler Herro suffered two broken fingers in Game 1 of the first round of the 2023 playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Miami Heat seemed in deep trouble.
They weren’t a great offensive team to begin with and many had doubts about how well they’d play without him. Well, the Heat have gotten to the NBA Finals without the 2022 Sixth Man of the Year and Paul Pierce says his absence might have been a blessing in disguise.
“I don’t want to hear nothing about Herro,” Pierce said when Kevin Garnett spoke of his potential return. “If I’m Miami, how do you even play him? They have a rhythm going. Herro being hurt might have been a blessing in disguise for them because we see what Caleb Martin turned into because Caleb Martin is better than Herro. That might throw Caleb off. You throw him off by bringing Herro back. I don’t want to see it.”
"Caleb Martin is better than Herro….you throw him off by bringing Herro back" – Paul Pierce@paulpierce34 says bringing Tyler Herro back throws off Miami's rhythm, especially Caleb Martin. Y'all think Miami needs Herro to beat the Nuggets? https://t.co/2DvSiCZLiU pic.twitter.com/Z17R0RLCjt
— Kevin Garnett (@KevinGarnett5KG) June 2, 2023
To say Caleb Martin is better based on one good series against the Boston Celtics is a bit much. Herro averaged 20.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 4.2 APG this season while Martin has never had a campaign where he has averaged double-digits in scoring.
In these playoffs, Martin averaged 19.3 PPG against the Celtics, but the first two rounds saw him put up just 10.8 PPG. In Game 1 of the Finals against the Denver Nuggets, he had just 3 points as the Heat lost and if they had Herro, maybe things could have turned out a bit differently. The injury certainly wasn’t some blessing in disguise and Pierce is just being a prisoner of the moment based on what Martin did to the Celtics.
Tyler Herro Could Be Back For Game 2
Game 1 against the Nuggets saw the Heat score just 93 points, their lowest in these playoffs. The team certainly could use some more help on offense and Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Herro will try to play in Game 2 but if he can’t play that one, he should be back for Game 3.
Considering he hasn’t played in over a month, you do wonder if there is enough time for Herro to get back to his best. You’d assume it’d take him a game or two to get going and his teammates need to make sure the series isn’t done by the time that happens.
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