THE NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD
EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ NO. 0128
The question, with all of theHeat’s returning young veteran wings, would be whether there would be a step forward or a step back after the shortest offseason for any Eastern Conference team in NBA history.
The answer, with Kendrick Nunn and Gabe Vincent, has been a step forward.
With Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson, the answer is more nuanced, with clarity to come in the weeks after an All-Star break that begins following the Heat’s Thursday night game at New Orleans (8:30 p.m., TNT).
Miami listed Jimmy Butler (knee inflammation) as questionable for Thursday’s game; he traveled with the team. Avery Bradley (calf) remains out.
Sizing up where the Heat’s
youngest wing veterans stand:
HERRO
He played in his 100th meaningful NBA game on Tuesday (including regular season and playoffs), and this was hardly how one of the NBA’s rising stars of the Disney bubble envisioned his second season: Missing 11 games and being yanked from the starting lineup on Feb. 4, with the Heat seven games below .500.
But instead of sulking after losing his starting job, Herro instead carved out a niche as one of the NBA’s best bench scorers.
Despite a poor 3-for-12, nine-point night against Atlanta on Tuesday — after which he launched shots on the AmericanAirlines Arena court — Herro stands fourth in the league in scoring among reserves at 15.3 points per game, behind only Jordan Clarkson, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Eric Gordon (minimum 10 games off the bench).
He’s scoring more points off the bench, on average, this season than three of the NBA’s premier reserve scorers of the past decade: Terrence Ross, Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams.
“I’m in a good situation [but] I can always be better in every aspect,” Herro said, adding that he has studied a few bench players, primarily Williams. “I’m never really pleased how I played.”
Herro’s numbers are up across the board: in scoring (13.5 to 16.4), rebounding (4.1 to 5.9) and assists (2.2 to 3.7). His minutes’ increase (27.4 to 33.0) explains some of that.
The three-point shooting is down (38.9% as a rookie to 35.2) but the overall shooting percentage is up (42.8 to 44.2).
Considerable growth is still needed defensively, turnovers (2.5 per game) must be curbed, and he’s not yet close to the Devin Booker-type ceiling that some envisioned. Keep in mind that Booker averaged 21.0 per game in his first season and never lost his starting job.
But Herro’s secondyear scoring numbers are similar to those of Bradley Beal, who averaged 17.1 in more minutes that season but also shot 40.2 percent on threes.
Herro remains too young, at 21, to definitively know if he’s a career sixth man or a potential
above-average starter.
NUNN
How Nunn has rejuvenated his career — after being a nonfactor for much of the playoffs — stands as perhaps the best individual story of the Heat’s first half.
In 15 games as a starter, Nunn is averaging 15.3 points, 3.2 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals while shooting 45% from the field and 40% on threes. And the Heat is 9-6 in those starts. The points/rebounds/assists are similar to last season, but he has become a more efficient player, a more impressive passer and a better defender.
He’s shooting 40.9% from three to nine feet, up from 37.1 last season. And on long twos (16 feet to the three-point line), he’s shooting 57.1%, compared with 46.2 last season.
His tangible defensive metrics also have all improved from a year ago — 1.2 steals per game, up from 0.8 — and players he’s defending are shooting 46.5%, compared with 47.6 a year ago. His pesky defense against Trae Young the past two games made a difference.
ROBINSON
Though the three-point percentage is down (44.6 to 39.2) and the scoring similar (down from 13.5 to 13.0 this season), a case could be made that he’s a better overall player, particularly as a team
defender, passer and cutter.
Last season, only 16.4% of his baskets were twopointers; this season, it’s 22%, thanks largely to timely cuts to the basket for layups.
“There’s definitely a balance there,” he said. “Particularly now with how teams are playing me, it’s something that can give them a different look.”
As coach Erik Spoelstra said: “There’s not a team that will let him just come off on a handoff or some kind of pin-down cleanly anymore. He’s not going to get those days again probably ever in this league. That’s a great respect and he has adapted already greatly this year learning how to move without the ball, learning how to cut and keep defenses honest at the rim.”
And Spoelstra said Robinson has spent a lot of time working on his ball-handling, especially in pick and rolls, and several pinpoint passes show the improvement in that area.
“He gets it,” Spoelstra said. “Once he gets better at this, it’s not going to stop.”
VINCENT
He arrived last January best known for his range, a player who made an absurd 88 threes in 20 games (three starts) for the G-League’s team in Stockton, California. But
in his second year as a two-way contract player with the Heat, Vincent has grown into something far more, including a defensive pest.
Though he’s just 23 for 89 on threes (25.8%), Vincent has been an asset in recent weeks, a player Erik Spoelstra trusts. He’s allowing the player he’s defending to shoot just 42.6% against him (63 for 148). He was 15th best among guards (minimum 100 shots defended) in the category to begin the week — and now stands 38th.
“Shooting the three has always been one of my greatest skills, but I pride myself defensively, as well,” Vincent said this week.
Vincent said he has been studying Bradley’s defense even before Bradley signed with the Heat in November.
ALL-STAR WEEKEND NOTE
There won’t be a Rising Stars game during All-Star weekend because of the pandemic, but the NBA on Wednesday named players who would have been on those teams had there been a game. And Herro and Heat rookie Precious Achiuwa were both named to the game, which typically matches rookies and second-year players.