2 weeks Ago
Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo may have missed out on most of the end-of-season awards, but their elite play earned them rankings as some of the best players in the playoffs. ESPN place Herro and Adebayo among the top 50 most impactful players. Herro was ranked No.
43, as Tim Bontemps explains how his regular-season success needs to transfer to the playoffs for the Heat to have a chance against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Through 47 playoff games, Herro averages 14.4 points, 4.
3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists on 41.3 percent shooting and 33.
3 percent from three-point range. “This was a breakthrough season for Herro, who made his first All-Star team and powered Miami through the play-in with back-to-back big games against Chicago and Atlanta,” Bontemps said. “For the Heat to have another surprise push from the play-in through the East playoffs, they'll need Herro to continue to produce to keep up with the Cavaliers' high-octane offense.
” Adebayo was ranked higher at No. 34, as Bontemps explained his strong finish to the regular season, both on offense and defense, will be crucial in helping the Heat pull off another upset against the Cavaliers. Through 75 playoff games, Adebayo averages 16.
4 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 3.4 assists on 52.
1 percent shooting and 14.3 percent from three-point range. “Adebayo had a down season, particularly offensively, but a strong closing stretch again helped Miami reach the playoffs,” Bontemps said.
“He also had a solid defensive effort in the play-in tournament as opponents went 8-25 (32%) on shots contested by the three-time All-Star. His hands will be full in the first round against Cleveland, as Miami will need its versatile center to be at his best if the Heat want to give the top-seeded Cavaliers a challenge.” LEBRON JAMES FOUND POSITIVE IN MIAMI HEAT’S 2011 FINALS FAILURE Throughout a historic career, it’s difficult to find any shortcomings in LeBron James’s career more infamous than the 2011 NBA Finals disappointment with the Miami Heat.
On the Mind The Game podcast , James and Steve Nash discussed how impactful that failure was for all the success of his career afterwards. “It was my second year in Miami,” James said. “You know, losing that year before gave me enough experience to know how to handle adversity even more.
You know, how to go to Boston for a game six down 3-2, and everybody is saying this is over. How to come back in 2016 after losing in 2015, and how to handle adversity being down 3-1. Because of the things I learned over the course of the past, and having those moments with my teammates to be like, we’re fine.
And they believe that no matter how large the obstacle is for us to overcome.” James went from several disappointing fourth-quarter performances in the 2011 finals to becoming one of the best fourth-quarter players for the next 14 years. He led the Heat to two championships and four appearances in the finals.
TWO-TIME NBA CHAMPION EXPECTS CHALLENGING CLEVELAND CAVALIERS-MIAMI HEAT SERIES Despite finishing as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers have to take this first-round matchup seriously to avoid being another upset at the hands of the Miami Heat. On NBA TV, Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas explained why he believes this series can go the distance, despite being a first seed against an eighth seed.
“Cleveland is definitely the favorite,” Thomas said. “However, Miami has won two road games, and they’re playing good basketball right now. So, I think this goes six or seven games.
I don’t think this will be a lay down for Cleveland. I think Miami is going to give them all that they want.” The Heat have pulled off these surprise upsets before, notably as a Play-In team in 2023, when they defeated the No.
1 seed Milwaukee Bucks in the first round and the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, those upsets came with Jimmy Butler as the leader of the Heat.
With Butler playing for the Golden State Warriors, the Heat will require more strong performances from Tyler Herro as the primary scoring option to have a chance of another upset. During the two Play-In games, he averaged 34 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.
5 assists on 57 percent shooting and 47 percent from three-point range. Bryan Townes is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at btownesjr@gmail.
com or on X @bryantownesjr11. Follow our coverage on Facebook.
