Tyler Herro was the star of the show in his Miami Heat's 111-101 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden on April 24. Knocking down six of his 11 3-point attempts and dishing out a career-high 14 assists in an unfathomable upset, Herro was the best player on the floor for either team by a good margin.
His expanded opportunities come in the wake of Jimmy Butler's absence due to a an MCL injury, and as Herro revealed, the Heat's injured star had words of encouragement to share with the 24-year-old before the series; encouragement to lead Miami in his absence, specifically.
“Before the series texted me to take the team and lead these guys… Everybody came to play," Herro said (h/t ClutchPoints). "We lost bad in Game 1 and everyone responded.”
Boston Celtics must reshuffle gameplan ahead of Game 3
Game 2 was a disaster for every member of the Celtics besides Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White. In particular, Kristaps Porzingis' play stood out as ineffective and not conducive to winning basketball. The Latvian center shot just 1/9 and couldn't get anything going in the paint despite his notable height advantage over everyone on the Heat.
Obviously, Boston's gameplan needs to change. Immediately. To have the talent advantage Joe Mazzulla does but failing to outduel Erik Spoelstra is a bad look for the Cs head coach. And if this continues, it could cost him his job.
It's premature to talk like that, but losing homecourt advantage against the Heat as the series shifts back to the Kaseya Center should make everyone a little worried.
Speeding up the pace of the game to avoid halfcourt sets could be one answer, but whatever Mazzulla does, he cannot allow 66 points combined to Herro, Bam Adebayo, and Caleb Martin again.