Q: The most amateur last play call for an obvious Tyler Herro dribble-the-clock-out prayer to win. Where’s the back screens and cuts to the basket? They still get paid for overtime games. Disappointing. – Marc, Arlington, Texas.
A: This is where I ran into trouble after Friday’s game, first when I asked Erik Spoelstra, then when I again in the locker room mentioned the lack of something to the basket at the close. The answer I basically got was along the lines of. “That’s Tyler.” And, yes, Tyler Herro’ courage and confidence should be applauded. But a three wasn’t required in that situation. It’s one thing to do it in a tie at the end, as with his winning 3-pointer against the Kings. There, the penalty would have been no worse than overtime. But here you had to have points, and Tyler had just gone to the line and converted a pair of free throws with 8.4 seconds to play. I agree that with 7.6 seconds left on that final play there was opportunity for more. Then again, as someone mentioned in the locker room, if Jimmy Butler had been on the court, he likely would have gone for the 3-pointer, as well.
Q: Three games in a row, three iso plays at the end. No ball movement. But I guess the Heat did win two of the three. – Stuart.
A: I wouldn’t necessarily call Jimmy Butler’s key plays down the stretch isos against the Warriors on Tuesday. The Heat worked to get him the ball in those positions. The other two were more like getting Dwyane Wade the ball in space. And the reality is Dwyane also often settled for the jumper instead of the attack play. So it’s not as if Tyler Herro’s plays were Heat outliers.
Q: I figure it will take at least 46 wins to have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. I know it’s early, but the Heat would have to go 42-30 the rest of the way to make it to that number. That’s asking a lot from this offensively challenged group. – Ray, Deerfield Beach.
A: It is early. And too early for that. I think more troubling is when you look at the standings at the end of the season and then get a read on the toll exacted by the losses to the Kings and the Pacers. But the Heat had bad losses last season and still finished with the best regular-season record in the East.
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Originally published at Tribune News Service