Erik Spoelstra explains how Tyler Herro’s game has grown. And where the Heat defense stands

Much of the focus has been on Tyler Herro’s inefficient outside shooting to begin the season. After all, the second-year Miami Heat guard entered Sunday shooting just 28.6 percent from three-point range.

But Herro continues to prove there’s more to his offensive game than just outside shooting. On a night he was just 2 of 7 on non-paint shots, Herro set a new regular-season career-high with 31 points on 12-of-20 shooting to go with nine rebounds and two assists in Saturday’s road win over the Washington Wizards.

Takeaways from Heat’s win over shorthanded Wizards. A big night for the offense and Herro

How did Herro pull it off? He finished 10 of 13 on shots from inside the paint against the Wizards, including 3-of-4 shooting at the rim, according to NBA tracking stats.

Herro is shooting an efficient 11 of 14 from inside the restricted area and 25 of 39 (64.1 percent) on paint shots through the Heat’s first eight games of the season.

“He’s more than just strictly a catch-and-shoot player,” coach Erik Spoelstra said before the Heat’s Sunday night game against the Boston Celtics was postponed because of COVID-19 issues. “He’s very good off the dribble. This is something that he diligently works on every day with his quarterback reads, and it’s not just finishing. It’s making the reads on what the scheme is and where the weakside is, and that’s on different coverages based who you’re playing. I think he’s growing leaps and bounds with that. That just shows you that it’s not just about the shooting with him.”

Spoelstra also believes it’s not all about the scoring for Herro, who entered Sunday averaging 15.6 points in eight games this season. Herro, 20, averaged 16 points during the Heat’s playoff run last season as a rookie.

“I think this is part of maybe the education of people, of fans or whoever out there,” Spoelstra said. “Tyler has been growing in a lot of areas. It’s just a shame that people will only look at that final column to see whether he’s making a big jump. He has made significant jumps in his defense. We had him guard Brandon Ingram one game, had him guard Jayson Tatum another game. It shows you how far he has come defensively. He had 15 rebounds in a game. He’s making much better reads on different coverages, where it’s not always just a shot but it’s making plays for others. I think his game is growing.”

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Herro is also adjusting to a full-time starting role after starting only eight regular-season games as a rookie last season. The Bam Adebayo-Jimmy Butler-Herro trio entered Sunday with a negative plus/minus of minus-12 in 119 minutes together this season.

For the Heat to have sustained success, that will likely have to end up as a positive number.

“I’m just still trying to figure it out,” Herro said. “Some nights, I try to play-make and some nights it’s my time to be aggressive. Not every night is going to be the same night. This team has a very deep roster and any given night, anyone can score. Like I said, I’m not really worried about the numbers. I’m just trying to go out there and just hoop.”

ON THE DEFENSIVE

While the Heat’s defense has struggled at times early this season, it entered Sunday as a top-10 unit. Miami owns the NBA’s 10th-best defensive rating, allowing 107.6 points per 100 possessions.

The Heat also has held opponents to the league’s third-worst shooting percentage this season at 43.5 percent.

A look at the shot profile indicates Miami’s defense is already working as intended, too, with opponents taking a lot of threes and very few shots around the rim. Heat opponents are averaging the second-most three-point attempts (39.4 per game) and the second-fewest shot attempts from inside the restricted area (19.9) in the NBA this season.

Still, Butler was not happy with Miami’s defense in Saturday’s win after Washington scored 71 points on 55.8 percent shooting in the first half despite missing its top two scorers — guards Bradley Beal (COVID-19 health and safety protocols) and Russell Westbrook (left quadriceps soreness).

“I think we’re just playing dumb sometimes,” Butler said when asked about the Heat’s defensive lulls. “Like we don’t know where we’re supposed to be, we don’t know what guys’ strengths are. Playing dumb, lazy, not paying attention. Whatever the case may be, we just got to be better. Not any one particular guy. Everybody as a whole, we just need to continue to hold each other accountable.”

SPOELSTRA ON BEAL

Before Beal was ruled out for Saturday’s game against the Heat, Spoelstra was asked whether he feels Beal is even better now than he was last season.

Spoelstra didn’t hesitate with his answer.

“He’s better,” Spoelstra said of Beal, who entered Sunday averaging a league-high 35 points per game. “I think every year, he has gotten better. He has added more to his toolkit. He seemingly doesn’t have any weaknesses in his game at this point.”