MIAMI — Darius Garland called out Tyler Herro, and now the Miami Heat All-Star has responded.
After Garland’s Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Heat 121-112 Wednesday to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series, Garland was asked to identify the key to Cleveland’s crunch-time strategy. His answer added some beef to a suddenly contentious battle between the top team in the East and a Heat squad that barely made the playoffs.
“Pick on Tyler Herro and take care of the ball,” Garland said of the Cavs’ approach. “Don’t play in tight spaces and pick on their weak defenders.”
Herro didn’t hold back when asked about Garland’s comments in a news conference Friday.
“Somebody that doesn’t play defense shouldn’t be talking either,” Herro said. “He don’t play any defense and we’ll see that tomorrow. He don’t play no D.”
Both Herro and Garland told The Athletic they have a good relationship. But that doesn’t mean the trash talk isn’t real.
“I mean, I’m not f—ing around. I don’t think there’s anything to f— around about,” Herro told The Athletic Friday. “But we had said some words to each other on the court and then looked like he was in his feelings to go to the media to say that after the game. I mean, that kind of says everything right there.”
Herro, who had 33 points in 40 minutes in Game 2, said he’s not worried about what Garland says about him and is focused on what the Heat need to do to win two games at home and send the series back to Cleveland tied up. Miami nearly completed a comeback from a 19-point deficit in Game 2, finding several lineup and offensive adjustments to keep up with Cleveland’s league-best offense.
Davion Mitchell notched 14 points in the fourth quarter, successfully scoring in the paint while Herro was resting on the bench. When Herro returned to the game, his movement on and off the ball gave the Cavs’ defense its biggest test of the series. Now, Cleveland has to figure out how to get Herro away from the mix in the fourth quarter, like they did in Game 1.
“It’s physicality. It’s nothing,” Garland said. “I think we’re doing a really good job on him. He’s going to shoot like 40 shots to beat us. But if one guy’s going to beat us, then he beats us.“
The Cavs’ offense had plenty of success going at Herro in the fourth quarter in Game 1, as Ty Jerome, Donovan Mitchell and Garland found little resistance when driving at him to get to their spots. But Herro held up better at the end of Game 2.
In the fourth quarter Wednesday, Cleveland brought Herro directly into the main on-ball action on five plays. Herro stood up Sam Merrill in isolation to set up a steal in the middle of the quarter, then stopped a Garland isolation with about four minutes left, forcing the Cavs guard to pass to Max Strus. With three minutes left, Donovan Mitchell drove at Herro on a switch, hitting a tough fadeaway shot after Herro kept him out of the paint. One minute later, the Cavaliers’ All-Star drew a switch onto Herro, then buried a deep 3 when Herro tried to switch off of him.
“Ultimately, to win the game, you have to have team defense. But every once in a while, five seconds or less, it’s one one-on-one sometimes,” Heat big man Bam Adebayo said. “Guard your yard. You’ve seen in the playoffs, guys hit walkoff bombs and the whole nine. So we take the comment and we respect it and we go play our game tomorrow.”
Adebayo embraced the trash talk between Herro and Garland, saying that the playoffs are all about dealing with the ways opponents try to expose weaknesses.
“Yeah, cause you can’t hide. That’s what I love about the playoffs,” Adebayo said. “Obviously, (Garland) said what he said. We all take that personally. Not only just Tyler, we all take that personally. We got a game tomorrow at one, early in the morning, get some sleep tonight and then we get it cracking in the morning.”
Herro enters Game 3 knowing the spotlight will be on his defense, while the Cavs will be working to keep him at bay on offense. While this war of words with Garland has increased the hype around this series, Herro said he doesn’t need any further motivation.
“I have enough fuel in me and in this locker room, around the organization, in the building,” Herro said. “I don’t need any fuel from that guy over there.”
(Top photo: David Richard / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
