Heat’s Tyler Herro still watching a lot of Devin Booker film. And Jimmy Butler out vs. Suns
Tyler Herro is quickly establishing his own NBA identity, but he watched a lot of Devin Booker film along the way.
Since the Miami Heat drafted him in 2019, Herro has pointed to the Phoenix Suns All-Star guard and fellow Kentucky Wildcat as the player he models his game after. Herro and Booker have also developed a friendship, which began when Herro committed to Kentucky in 2017.
“There are guys that you always look up to and watch to try to mimic what they do, take things from their game,” Herro said to the Miami Herald earlier this season. “But Devin is somebody that I always look to. He’s obviously somebody that I looked up to coming into the league and somebody that I was comparing myself to. So, yeah, I would agree, like right now I still look at him and see what he’s doing over there in Phoenix. He’s obviously playing really well and leading his own team.”
Wednesday night’s matchup between Herro’s Eastern Conference-leading Heat and Booker’s Western Conference-leading Suns at FTX Arena is a reminder of how far Herro has come since he said as a rookie that “I think I’m capable of doing what [Booker] does if I continue to improve.”
Herro, 22, is the clear-cut front-runner for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award as the league’s leading bench scorer in his third NBA season, entering Wednesday averaging career-highs in points (20.8), assists (4) and minutes (32.7) while shooting 44.2 percent from the field and 38.8 percent on threes. Booker averaged 24.9 points while shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from three-point range in his third NBA season in 2017-18, but the Suns finished with the worst record in the league that season at 21-61.
“A lot. Especially because I’m a midrange guy,” Herro said when asked how much Booker film he still watches. “You know I like the midrange, so that’s something that I look to. With the playoffs and everything like that, this summer was a big summer for me and he was somebody that I watched a lot, especially throughout that playoff run. How he’s working the midrange, getting to his spots and stuff like that.”
Their love for the midrange is probably what Herro and Booker have most in common.
Herro has attempted 46 percent of his shots from the midrange this season, which places him in the 89th percentile among guards around the NBA, according to Cleaning the Glass. And 54 percent of Booker’s shots this season have been midrange attempts, which puts him in the 100th percentile for his position.
Herro has made 42 percent of his midrange looks this season, according to Cleaning the Glass, which puts him in the 59th percentile among NBA guards. Booker is shooting 45 percent on midrange attempts, which has him in the 83rd percentile for his position.
“It’s just making it and being efficient in the midrange,” Herro said. “A lot of guys can take it. I think the biggest thing is just being efficient. That’s my biggest thing. I hate not being efficient. I don’t want to be a volume scorer. I want to be an efficient scorer, getting to my spots. There’s going to be a lot of ups and downs with it. But I think over an 82-game season, I can be consistent enough to knock down the midrange shot.”
Lately, though, it has been the three-point shot that has been the driving force behind Herro’s scoring. He has shot 47.9 percent on 6.9 three-point attempts per game in his first seven games since the All-Star break.
Herro said he worked on his three-point shooting “a lot this past summer” with “different variations off the dribble, off the catch, stepbacks.” He shot 36 percent from three-point range last season.
“Just to see him figure it out every night,” Heat forward P.J. Tucker said of what has impressed him most about Herro. “It’s not the same looks every night. It’s not the same flow. I think we do a good job of trying to get him in all spots. I know I do.”
Booker missed the last four games while in the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols, but he joined the Suns in Miami and will be available to play on Wednesday against the Heat.
“I cherish moments like this, being able to compete against Devin,” Herro said. “Whenever we go up against each other, it’s a game I look forward to.”
HOME STRETCH
Wednesday’s matchup against the Suns marked the Heat’s third game of its season-long seven-game homestand. The Heat entered the contest with the third-best home record in the NBA at 23-7.
“This is a big stretch for us,” Herro said. “We’ve been on the road for a long stretch of our games early on this season. Now this is our first real homestand with seven games in a row at home. I think we can take advantage of it, try to gain some games in the standings.”
The Heat entered Wednesday with a league-high 36 road games already played this season. Miami has only have five road games remaining on its regular-season schedule.
BUTLER OUT
Jimmy Butler appeared on the Heat’s injury report on Wednesday because of sinus congestion and will not play against the Suns. The Heat will also be without Kyle Guy (G League), Markieff Morris (return to competition reconditioning) and Javonte Smart (G League).
The Suns ruled out Cam Johnson (quad contusion), Frank Kaminsky (knee stress reaction), Chris Paul (thumb fracture) and Dario Saric (ACL tear) against the Heat on the second night of a back-to-back after Tuesday’s win over the Magic in Orlando.
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 1:15 PM.
