Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro is a household name these days. Firstly, he played a key role during the 2020 NBA Finals for the Heat. Secondly, he is rumored to be the centerpiece of a Miami-Houston trade involving James Harden.
Herro, who the Miami Heat selected with the 13th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, has indeed earn the right for these attention. He was one of the main reasons why the Heat defeated the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics on their way to the NBA Finals.
Here are the numbers that would prove why Houston could let go of their all star scoring machine for him and why Miami could be hesitant to let this rookie go even when acquiring one of the greatest scorers in NBA history:
1. Tyler Herro’s 37 points in Game 4 of the East finals broke several records: (a) it is a career-high for Herro; (b) it break Dwyane Wade’s Miami Heat rookie record for points in an NBA Playoffs game; (c) it is also the most by a rookie in a Conference Finals game; (d) according to StatMuse, it is the 7th the most points scored by a rookie in the playoffs, tied with Tom Heinsohn and Joe Fulks.
2. Herro becomes the 4th player in NBA history to score 30 or more points in a playoff game at age 20 or younger. He joins the group of Magic Johnson (1980 NBA Finals), Derrick Rose (2009 first round) and Brandon Jennings (2010 first round).
3. Herro scored in double figures in each of his first 20 playoffs games the highest in NBA history. This overtook Elgin Baylor who recorded 13 straight double digit scoring games in 1959, Jayson Tatum with 14 in 2018, and Alvan Adams with 19 in 1976. He would have 21 all in all but is streak ended in closeout Game 6 of the NBA finals when he could only muster 7.
4. Tyler Herro had 16 points in the 2nd quarter of the East finals Game 3. That is the 2nd-most in a playoff quarter by a player at age 20 or younger since play-by-play began in 1997.
Only player with more is Kobe Bryant, who had 17 in 4th quarter against the Jazz on May 8, 1997.
5. At just 20 years old, Herro became the youngest player to start in a Finals game when he got the nod at shooting guard for Game 2. Prior to Herro, the youngest player to start in a Finals game was Johnson.
Magic was also 20 years old when he started Game 1 of the 1980 NBA Finals for the Los Angeles Lakers. However, Magic was a week older than Herro when he started his first Finals game.
6. He hit 48 total 3-point field goals during the playoffs. That broke the all-time record held by Matt Maloney, who hit 43 in his playoff run with the Houston Rockets in 1997,
Incidentally, Denver’s Michael Porter Jr., connected 34, good for third place, ahead of Manu Ginobili, who hit 28 during 2003, and Daniel Gibson, who hit 27 during the 2007 playoffs.
7. He hit 11 of them in the finals, the most 3-pointers by a rookie in NBA Finals history.
8. He scored a total of 335 points in the entire playoffs, fourth all-time among rookies, trailing only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 352 in 1970), Jayson Tatum’s 351 in 2018, and Alvan Adams’ (341 in 1976 while surpassing Elgin Baylor’s 331 in 1959 and and Jack Sikma’s 301 in 1978. That also surpassed Dwyane Wade 234 points in 2004 as the most by a Heat rookie in a postseason.
This total also surpassed the record for the most points by a rookie coming off the bench in NBA postseason history, surpassing Manu Ginobili’s 226 points in 2003.
9. In the negative side, Herro was -35 in Game One of the finals, tied for the lowest +/- by a player in a finals game since 2000.
By: Armando M. Bolislis
