ROOKIE HERRO PLAYS HERO
RISING star Tyler Herro scored a career-high 37 points and Jimmy Butler chipped in 24 as Miami Heat seized command of its Eastern Conference final series with a 112-109 win on Thursday.
Rookie Herro, 20, made five of 10 threes as Miami took a 3-1 lead over Boston Celtics in the best-of-seven series in the NBA’s quarantine bubble in Orlando, Florida.
“It is a good win for us. I feel good we are up 3-1, but we still have a lot of work to do,” Herro said on Thursday.
“We put a lot of effort into preparing for Game 4, and we got it done.”
Herro’s point total is the second most in a playoff game for a player 20 or younger, behind only Magic Johnson, who had 42.
The win moved Heat to within one win of an NBA finals berth, which it will try to secure in Game 5 on Saturday.
“Not too many people get an opportunity to make it this far in the playoffs and be in a game like this, but for him it’s another day in the office,” said Butler of Herro.
“He’s just going to keep playing basketball the right way.”
Goran Dragic had 22 points, and Bam Adebayo added 20 points and 12 rebounds for Miami.
Jayson Tatum scored a team-high 28 points, all coming in the second half, and Jaylen Brown had 21 for Boston.
Kemba Walker scored 20, Gordon Hayward 14, and Marcus Smart had
10 points and 11 assists.
The Celtics turned the ball over 19 times in the game.
“We’ve got to do a better job of handling the ball and taking care of it,” coach Brad Stevens said.