The Tyler Herro adjustment Heat must make ahead of Game 2 vs. Celtics

Herro struggled in Game 1 as he finished with 11 points, making only four of 13 shots from the field, which in a game where the Heat continue to miss Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier, it will be on him to come up huge in these types of contests. He talked about what the Celtics did against him to ClutchPoints after the loss, explaining how they made him feel uncomfortable.

There’s no doubt Herro will be motivated going into Game 2 as Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra will be looking for solutions to break him free and get him into the spots where he’s the most comfortable. This is what Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints before Tuesday’s practice as they are looking to get “him into his strength zones.”

“He’s doing everything he needs to do. We need to get a little bit more intentional in our actions to try to shake him free,” Spoelstra said. “They’re a very good defense. So there is a balance of shaking free, getting him into his strength zones, and then doing it too much where you’re falling into that Venus Flytrap. We’ll continue to work to be better at it. We have to be better all across the board. It’s not just Tyler, it’s all the other intentionality aspects of our offense to be able to shake free guys, get open looks, get to our strengths more consistently. They got us out of our strengths last game and you have to credit them for that.”

This especially opens up the game between Herro and Bam Adebayo as while the latter had a really good game scoring 24 points, the Heat are at their best when both are in sync.

Maintaining Boston at the perimeter

When it comes to the Celtics, the statistics say they are one of the best teams in the history of the NBA, especially in terms of point differential which was put on display Sunday afternoon with the blowout victory against the Heat. What led to their offensive barrage, started by a 14-0 run to start the game, was their explosiveness from three-point range.

Boston has been known to let it fly from deep, but Game 1 was a different animal as they took 49 attempts from that range, making 22 of them which ties a playoff record. The obvious key is to pressure them harder at the perimeter and make them live with taking shots closer to the basket.

However, it’s a dangerous game as the Celtics are still a dangerous team from anywhere, but it’s all about the numbers game. Besides making them uncomfortable from beyond the arch, the offense has to be better from that range as well as they only made five of them until the final period, something that Spoelstra talked about before Tuesday’s practice.

“I understand the math to it, I do,” Spoelstra said. “I mean, you don’t want to lose 30 points in a certain area. We shot more threes last game. We still left some on the table. I don’t know if we’ll end up shooting 49. So there’s going to have to be some kind of balance, bringing their number down a little bit. We’re not going to bring their threes down to 25, that’s not realistic. And we’re not going to shoot 50. But there is a balance there, where there’s a line where we can take a few more and hopefully get them off a few more.”

An 0-2 series deficit could be detrimental for the Heat

When facing a team like the Celtics, the opposing squad has to play a perfect or near-perfect game which could be too much to ask if you’re the Heat, especially when Butler and Rozier is still missing. However, Miami has been known to be a team that can adapt to their foe where they will get punched in the mouth the first game, but will come out hungry the next.

Still, Game 2 will be vital for Miami if they want any chance at making this a competitive series where stealing one in Boston could give them a ton of momentum heading back to home. Fans will be aching to see if their upset dreams come true as the East rivals will meet Wednesday night at the TD Garden.