Tyler Herro on Wins Against the Hawks: ‘It’s a Mini Warm-Up for the Playoffs’

The Miami Heat’s win over the Atlanta Hawks put them 2.5 games ahead of Atlanta for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. Heat point guard Tyler Herro said playing in a high-level atmosphere made this game feel like preparation for the postseason.

“Yeah it’s like an adjustment period,” Herro said. “Just being able to adjust to teams and your opponents game-to-game. I think it’s a mini warmup for the playoffs.”

"I think it's a 'mini-warmup' for the playoffs."

Tyler Herro on the high-stakes two-game sets against recent/upcoming opponents.@MiamiHEAT | #HEATCulture pic.twitter.com/vGa5r7ou4q
— Bally Sports Sun: HEAT (@BallyHEAT) March 7, 2023

Miami’s bench finally had their best game since All-Star break, scoring 59 points on 9 of 13 shooting from 3-point range. The performances from Caleb Martin, Duncan Robinson and Victor’s Oladipo gave flashbacks of the team’s bench production last season. Miami’s high-level bench contributions helped them top the Eastern Conference last year. Herro said the Heat need to replicate that for the rest of the season.

“It’s very important,” Herro said. “Just getting off to a good start as starters, and then having the bench come in and give us a bunch of great minutes.”

The Heat have another playoff-esque game against the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday night. Cleveland is coming off an overtime victory against the Boston Celtics, holding strong as the fourth seed in the East. The Heat are two games behind the Brooklyn Nets for the sixth spot. In order to avoid the play-in tournament, Miami needs to rank in the top six for the conference standings.

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.