Tyler Herro reveals text from Jimmy Butler inspired Game 2 win
Tyler Herro had the best game of his pro career Wednesday as he logged 24 points and 14 assists in Miami's 111-101 win over Boston.
After the game, Herro credited his performance to a text message he received from Jimmy Butler, who remains sidelined with an MCL injury.
"JB texted me to take the team and lead these guys," Herro revealed. "He said, 'Just make every right play. It's not all about scoring, in the playoffs you gotta make the right play.' Our guys showed up tonight —Caleb Martin, Nikola [Jovic], Jaime [ Jaquez Jr.] everybody came to play. We lost bad in Game 1 and everybody responded. That's all you can ask for from a group of guys."
The camaraderie between Butler and Herro bodes well for the future of the Heat organization. After Miami lost the first play-in game to Philadelphia last week, there was a rumor that Herro and Butler had to be separated on the team bus after an argument ensued between the two. Herro and Butler have seemingly moved past the incident, which has yet to be verified by the franchise.
Herro's heroics Wednesday likely made some gutsy bettors a ton of money. That's because Miami was a whopping -14.5 underdog going into Game 2 against a juggernaut Boston team that won 37 of its 41 regular-season games at home.
After the Celtics steamrolled the Heat 114-94 in Game 1, it was widely predicted that Jayson Tatum and Co. would sweep their archrivals, especially due to Butler's absence.
Did Herro and the Heat unlock the formula to beat the Celtics on Wednesday? It was evident they ran Joe Mazzulla's team off the perimeter and forced them to make tough, contested shots against their zone defense.
Furthermore, Erik Spoelstra's squad gave the Celtics, the best three-point shooting team in the NBA, a taste of their own medicine by making a franchise-high 23 threes.
After the win, Charles Barkley couldn't stop raving about Spoelstra's coaching job.
"He got these guys believing that they can win," Barkley said of Spoelstra on "Inside the NBA" on TNT. "The number two thing a coach does for you is he puts you in positions to be successful. But the number one thing is he gives you confidence. And his gameplan worked."
More must-reads: