While the Miami Heat lost Game 1 to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night, 121-100, there will need to be a more polished performance from the team if they want a true shot at pulling off an upset. As the Heat sees the bright side to the defeat, the team knows what was missing in Game 1 as star Tyler Herro goes into detail.
Herro himself had a relatively forgettable outing finishing the game with 21 points on seven of 18 shooting from the field, three of six from deep, to go along with three assists and two rebounds. He would say that the team “lacked a lot of communication” while also having “mental errors” that are unlike the team.
“They’re a historically good offense,” Herro said via video from his press conference posted by Naveen Ganglani. “Obviously, they’re No. 1 in the East for a reason. I think we lacked a lot of communication, just mental errors that we can cover up. I think, obviously, the two days in between will give us time to watch film, have a practice and then clean up the things we need to clean up.”
“That was an emphasis coming into tonight — the 50-50s, all the offensive rebounds, just making sure we’re limiting them to one possession,” Herro continued. “Tonight, obviously, we didn’t do that from the very beginning. They were a lot more physical than us and I think that obviously set the tone.”
Heat's Tyler Herro on how the Cavs played him on defense
With the Heat led by Herro's scoring and playmaking ability, the Cavs had a game plan to frustrate the 25-year-old and force him into tough shots by playing more physical. Herro would speak about Cleveland's defense against him and how it's something he's seen “all year.”
“I just got to continue to be aggressive in finding my shots,” Herro said. “Obviously, they’re denying me and picking me up full court and just trying to make things tough. But we’ve faced that literally all year. I just got to be better.”
Looking at the team as a whole, Miami was overwhelmed by the Cavs' efficiency on offense and defense as they played like a team who was well-rested. As for the Heat, they would play like a group who is off of back-to-back grueling play-in tournament outings.
The most surprising aspect to Miami's loss was their shot chart, which included only five shots at the rim as despite them having a frontcourt in Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, that has to be increased. At any rate, the team looks to tie the series at one win apiece in Game 2 on Wednesday night.
