Rookies Herro and Nunn make their presence known in Heat’s season-opening win over Memphis
Rony Seikaly and Kevin Edwards. Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem. Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley.
And now, Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn.
The common thread between these four duos: They’re the only rookie pairs to start for the Miami Heat on Opening Night in the franchise’s 32 seasons.
But Herro and Nunn, who joined that club on Wednesday, are the only tandem to start and win.
The two combined for 38 points in the Heat’s 120-101 win over the Memphis Grizzlies at AmericanAirlines Arena.
And that fails to mention fellow rookie Chris Silva’s eight fourth-quarter points as the Heat used a 37-17 final period — fueled in large part by those first year players — to put the game out of reach.
“Those three rooks that we have,” Justise Winslow said, “they played phenomenal.”
Herro and Nunn both being in the starting lineup in their first NBA game was a move made possible with four-time All-Star Jimmy Butler out due to personal reasons and Dion Waiters suspended for conduct detrimental to the team.
Coach Erik Spoelstra had Nunn penciled into the starting lineup from the start. Herro’s insertion came only after Butler was ruled out.
“I was ready to start or ready to come off the bench either way,” Herro said. “I was excited to start. Whatever coach needs, I got.”
And the two quickly went to work.
Herro, the youngest player to ever start a game for the Miami Heat at 19 years and 276 days old, scored Miami’s first points of this young season with a floating bank shot 36 seconds into his NBA career. The first-round pick out of the University of Kentucky finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, an assist and two steals. He played the first 9:54 of the game before being subbed out — the longest of any Heat starter — and was on the court for 33:54 overall. Only Winslow (36:58) played more minutes for Miami.
Nunn, a 24-year-old undrafted rookie who showed playmaking potential with a 40-point outburst in the preseason finale against the Houston Rockets, scored 24 points. The Heat outscored Memphis by 27 points in Nunn’s 26:31 on the floor. Foul trouble — two whistles in the first four minutes — limited Nunn early, but he emerged with 11 points in the fourth quarter.
“Kendrick just plays at this very steady fourth quarter pace, and he does that throughout the course of the entire game,” Spoelstra said. “He doesn’t get sped up even when guys get up and into him. That’s part of the reason why he’s such an efficient basketball player, low turnover. You feel confident that he’s going to get you a look somehow because he plays at a pace that is under control, but still puts pressure on the defense.”
The two paired up for one of the highlight plays in the first quarter.
Bam Adebayo stole a pass and took the ball up the court and passed to Herro, who quickly lobbed the ball to a running Nunn on a play that ended with a big dunk.
Statistically speaking, it was the best one-two starting rookie punch in the season opener that the Heat has played with in four tries over the franchise’s history.
In the 2008-09 season opener, Chalmers put up 17 points on 7 of 13 shooting with seven rebounds, eight assists and just one turnover, while Beasley recorded nine points and four rebounds in a 120-115 loss to the New York Knicks.
Wade scored 18 points in his NBA debut in 2003, while fellow rookie Haslem had two points and eight rebounds in an 89-74 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
And in the first-ever Miami Heat game on Nov. 5, 1988, Seikaly and Edwards combined for 23 points and 10 rebounds in a 111-91 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
And, most importantly, the Heat hope it’s just the beginning.
“Nothing surprised me,” Winslow said. “We’ve been in the trenches for a couple weeks now together — a month or so — so I know what all these guys are capable of. There’s going to be nights when we have different leading scorers and things like that, but nothing surprised me. We’ve got a lot of dogs in this locker room and they showed it tonight. Mentally, they were tough, they were stable, they were ready for the opportunity.”
This story was originally published October 23, 2019 at 10:12 PM.
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