Butler debuts and Herro scores most by Heat rookie since Wade, as Miami moves to 3-1
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 112-97 win over the Atlanta Hawks (2-2) on Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena ...
1. Jimmy Butler was as solid as you would expect in his regular-season Heat (3-1) debut.
After missing Miami’s first three games on paternity leave, Butler’s first regular-season game as a member of the Heat went well. The prized offseason acquisition finished with 21 points while shooting 5 of 11 from the field and 10 of 15 from the foul line, five rebounds, two assists and three steals.
The Heat outscored the Hawks by 15 points in the 31 minutes Butler played.
Butler didn’t waste any time, scoring the Heat’s first points of the night on a driving layup. He scored 12 of the Heat’s first 20 points, and finished a pretty perfect first quarter with those 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field, 1-of-1 shooting on threes and 3-of-3 shooting on free throws.
“He was running around at shootaround like it was a playoff game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Butler. “He was just so excited to have an opportunity to finally get started in the regular season.”
After averaging only 9.7 shot attempts during the preseason as he looked to build his teammates’ confidence, Butler still took just 11 shots in his first regular-season game with the Heat. But that number is somewhat misleading because he drew 15 free-throw attempts.
2. What a second quarter it was for Heat rookie Tyler Herro.
The 19-year-old guard scored 19 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 shooting on threes and 7-of-10 shooting on free throws in the quarter. The 19 points he scored in the frame is more points than Herro recorded in each of the Heat’s first three games of the season.
According to Elias, the last Heat rookie with 19 or more points in a quarter was Caron Butler, who scored 19 in the third quarter of a game against the Utah Jazz on March 10, 2003.
Herro finished with a team-high 29 points while shooting 7 of 9 from the field, 3 of 4 on threes and 12 of 16 from the foul line, and seven rebounds in 29 minutes.
Herro’s 29 points are the most points in a game for a Heat rookie since Dwyane Wade scored 31 against the Jazz on Feb. 17, 2004.
“I guess that’s cool, but I’m not Dwyane Wade,” Herro said when informed of that fact. “That’s a cool accomplishment, but you’ve got to keep working.”
Aside from the two threes Herro made in the second quarter, he was also fouled on two three-point shot attempts in the period. The 10 free throws Herro shot in the quarter is more than he attempted in any single game during his lone season at Kentucky.
When the night was done, Herro was fouled on four three-point shot attempts. According to Couper Moorhead from Heat.com, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Paul George and Herro are the only players who have drawn four shooting fouls on threes in a game since 2013-14.
“Tyler did it very uniquely tonight,” Spoelstra said. “I don’t know if I’ve seen a guy since Jamal Crawford, maybe, draw that many fouls on threes. But he has a maturity to his game that he’ll probably be able to draw fouls and also put pressure on the defense in different ways. It’s not just about his three-point shooting.”
One weird aspect of Herro’s performance was his four missed free throws. He was an incredible 87 of 93 (93.5 percent) from the foul line last season at Kentucky.
Either way, it was an encouraging outing for Herro. He was shooting just 38.5 percent (15 of 39) from the field and 26.7 percent (4 of 15) on threes over the Heat’s first three games.
“He works so hard when nobody’s looking, so I always say the game is the easiest part,” Butler said of Herro. “It’s hard in practice. It’s hard to get up and work on your game consistently, but I think T does a great job of it, to tell you the truth. He’s really professional at the age of 19. He works hard, does what you ask him to do. That’s why he’s successful.”
With the help of Herro, who moved to the bench Tuesday after starting the first three games in Butler’s absence, the Heat’s reserves combined for 52 points against the Hawks. Guard Goran Dragic contributed 21 of those points off the bench.
3. The Hawks lost guard Trae Young to a sprained right ankle on Tuesday, and this injury could become a factor in Thursday’s Heat-Hawks matchup.
While driving into the paint, Young rolled his right ankle as he landed on Justise Winslow’s foot and exited Tuesday’s game with 9:57 remaining in the second quarter. He did not return to the contest.
Young scored five points on 2-of-5 shooting in 11 minutes before suffering the injury. He entered averaging 34 points (second-leading scorer in the NBA), six rebounds and nine assists over the Hawks’ first three games.
When Young left, the Hawks were down 36-31. Miami outscored Atlanta 76-66 the rest of the way.
“It changed quite a bit,” Spoelstra said when asked how Young’s injury affected the game. “You hate seeing that. He’s a heck of a player. Already as a young guy, he has seen every coverage there possibly is. So even as we’re trapping him, it’s not like he hasn’t seen it. ... He’s a big part of their offense and he’s been pretty close to spectacular so far this season.”
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, X-rays returned negative on Young’s injured ankle, and the hope is that it’s not a serious injury. An MRI on the ankle will follow.
Young’s availability is certainly in question for the back end of the Heat-Hawks home-and-home on Thursday in Atlanta.
4. Don’t look now, but the Heat is drawing an impressive amount of free throws.
For the third time in four games, the Heat attempted more than 30 free throws Tuesday (all three games have been wins). Miami finished 33 of 45 from the foul line against the Hawks.
That’s the most free throws the Heat has attempted in a game since it took 45 free throws in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Nov. 21, 2015.
“We certainly want to be aggressive and put pressure on the rim, in the paint,” Spoelstra said. “We have some rugged players.”
The Heat entered the game averaging the sixth-most free throw attempts in the league at 30 per game. Miami finished last season ranked 22nd in that category, with 21.7 per game.
Butler will help in this area, as he has averaged six free throw attempts per game over his NBA career.
For a Heat team that is looking to get into the paint and play a physical style, the free-throw numbers are encouraging.
5. Guard Dion Waiters was reinstated Tuesday, but he was not on the active roster. Forward James Johnson wasn’t either.
Waiters and Johnson continue to miss games, and it’s unclear when either will play in their next game for the Heat.
Waiters had been away from the team since serving his one-game suspension in Wednesday’s opener for conduct detrimental to the team. Johnson was inactive for a fourth consecutive game, as he continues to work toward meeting the team’s conditioning requirements.
Waiters has yet to practice with the Heat since his suspension, but he’ll have an opportunity to get a practice in Wednesday. Johnson has been a part of practices since returning to the team on Oct. 11 after being sent home from training camp because he failed to meet the Heat’s conditioning requirements.
Both Waiters and Johnson were not on the Heat’s bench for Tuesday’s game.
This story was originally published October 29, 2019 at 10:12 PM.
