It isn’t often that a team’s most important player comes off the bench, but Miami’s Tyler Herro is challenging that wisdom with his game-changing heroics.
On Wednesday, this season’s Sixth Man of the Year finished with 18 points and seven rebounds against the 76ers, leading a Heat bench that outscored Philly’s 52-19 on the way to a 2-0 series advantage.
Herro, who’s earning only $4 million this year — the seventh-highest-paid player on a Miami squad with a $140.8 million payroll — rode a landslide to become the second-youngest player to win 6MOTY.
- Herro scored the most points for Miami in the regular season (1,367) and averaged the second-most PPG (20.7).
- His bench unit led the NBA in PPG (40.5) and is second behind the Warriors (43.1) in the postseason.
- In Game 1, he became the first in Heat postseason history to score 25 points and with five assists off the bench.
The 22-year-old’s contract provides some breathing room for a Miami team with $133 million already on the books next season — he’s owed a mere $5.7 million next season, and the Heat can wait until 2023 to offer him a five-year, $184 million rookie max extension.
With Joel Embiid uncertain to play in Friday’s Game 3 in Philly, the Heat have a chance to go up 3-0 and make the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in three seasons.
History’s on their side: The Heat are 16-0 when up 2-0 in a best-of-seven series, while the Sixers are 0-13 when trailing 2-0. Miami is the third-favorite (+475) to win the title.
