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It was an exciting Thursday night as Miami Heat star Tyler Herro hit the game-winner with 0.05 seconds left, leading to the team's win over the Orlando Magic, 89-88. The Heat gave the Magic a painful loss as it was redemption for the collapse last Saturday as head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke about Herro after the game.
Herro would finish the game with 20 points on eight for 17 shooting which is a relatively modest outing from the 24-year-old guard. Still, he would come up in the biggest moment of the game, hitting a clutch mid-range jumper to give Miami the win, a shot that proved “he has the guts” as Spoelstra said according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“We were able to get him the ball,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “get him a little bit of space and then he was able to take it to a spot and elevate. At that point in the last three minutes, we were running every action through him. He has the guts.”
Heat's Tyler Herro describes the game-winning play
The Heat's All-Star hopeful in Herro has taken a huge leap this season in being the team's top scoring option and trusted in this situation to bring them a victory. He would describe how the play was laid out for that final shot and it was as simple as “letting me work” as expressed by the University of Kentucky product.
“Just getting the ball to the top and letting me work,” Herro said. “That was the play.”
There is no doubt this was a redeeming game as the Heat collapsed to the Magic in the same building not too long ago where they lost a 22-point lead heading into the final period. This time around, Miami was down 10 points going into the fourth quarter as they were trailing the entire game.
However, the team would have a 16-5 run in the frame to take their first lead with under eight minutes left where it became a battle to separate oneself from the opponent. As judged by the final score, it was a tough defensive game where Miami utilized zone which got Orlando off-balance as according to Second Spectrum, they scored just “0.58 points per possession” in half-court situations against the zone on Thursday night.
“This was by any means necessary,” Spoelstra said about the Heat’s zone defense and how it impacted the Magic via The Miami Herald. “It was whatever. It could have been our man, it could have been zone, we had to get stops. It’s never the scheme. It’s whatever gets us in the mentality to do tough things, I’m game for it.”
Heat's other contributing factors to the win over the Magic
There were some crucial contributions like from Heat second-year player Jaime Jaquez Jr. who filled in for the injured Jimmy Butler who has been the face of trade speculation. He finished the game with 15 points to go along with four rebounds, four assists, and five steals.
He would also connect on three deep makes out of five attempts, a season-high made, which is a huge development for him since that was an area he has struggled in this season. Alec Burks was also huge in the game as he had 17 points on four of five shooting, including three of three from beyond the arc.
“It feels good to hit a few, I’m not going to lie,” Jaquez said after making a season-high three threes against the Magic. “But coaches and teammates, they never told me to stop shooting. They always tell me to let it fly. That just gives me confidence.”
The team would still prevail despite playing sloppy with 20 turnovers and their captain Bam Adebayo having an off-game with four points.
Heat redeemed themselves after collapsing to Magic some time ago
As mentioned before, it was a historic loss for the Heat against the Magic the last time that this win was a satisfying result for them, especially for Herro.
“It felt good just to get the win,” Herro said. “We felt sick to our stomachs after that last game [in Orlando], really giving up that lead. So just coming back in this building not even a week later is really gratifying.”
The game Thursday night was the lowest-scoring game in the entire NBA season thus far, where it was also the first time a team hadn't reached 90 points. Spoelstra after the game said it was their “toughest win this season” as he compared it to a “throwback 90s game” which he has mentioned before that it defines contests between Miami and Orlando.
“I don’t know if it was our best win this year, but it was definitely our toughest win this season,” Spoelstra said. “We showed the most grit, collective grit, the most mental toughness tonight to be able to find a way to win.”
“This was a total throwback 90s game for both sides,” Spoelstra said. “The ultimate deal is just to find a way to win, sometimes that gets lost in this league with all the scoring and all the stats and all that stuff. It’s really about finding a way to get the W.”
At any rate, the Heat are now 15-13 which puts them sixth in the Eastern Conference as they continue their road trip on Saturday afternoon against the Atlanta Hawks.
