Despite up-and-down road trip, Tyler Herro remains confident in Heat's youthful core

Just in case you haven’t heard, the Miami Heat (20-19), who just returned to South Florida after finishing an up-and-down six-game road trip, have been shorthanded in recent weeks. Some familiar surroundings could do the team some good as Jimmy Butler prepares to return from his seven-game suspension.

Miami split its West Coast swing with three wins and losses apiece, going 3-4 during Butler’s team-imposed absence. Those three victories — at the Warriors, Jazz and Trail Blazers — fell one shy of tying the team’s longest win streak of the season. Consecutive losses to begin and end Butler’s suspension leave the Heat seeking to sustain rhythm despite the drama between the six-time All-Star and Miami’s front office.

Drama aside, the Heat have done their best to keep their focus on basketball. Without Butler in the lineup, team captain Bam Adebayo and aspiring All-Star Tyler Herro held things down. They were also encouraged by what they saw around them, as their younger teammates contributed more extensively. In the last few weeks, the Heat have endured a 36-point home defeat to Utah, lost in double-overtime to the Kings and coughed up double-digit leads to the Clippers and Lakers. The Heat have continued their sporadic, season-long pattern of either playing down to competition or struggling to finish close games. 

“It … proves that we (always) got a chance,” Adebayo told the media about his road trip observations. “I feel like we could’ve finished this road trip 5-1, 4-2. It’s certain games that we didn’t take care of business.”

That being said, rookie center Kel’el Ware, second-year forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. and 21-year-old Nikola Jović all showed some positive flashes. 

For most Heat fans, seeing Ware enjoy more playing time is a welcome sight, even if coach Erik Spoelstra remains patient with pairing the promising shot-blocker and lob threat alongside Adebayo. After Ware averaged only 11 minutes in his first 18 NBA appearances, he played 19.5 minutes per game while leading the team in blocks (1.5) and shooting percentage (57.9) during the road trip. His seven rebounds per game trailed only Adebayo for the team lead over that span. Ware shared elements of his two-way promise, making three of his eight attempts from deep, shooting 50 percent on jumpers and helping Miami hold opponents to 42.4 percent shooting during his 117 minutes with him on the floor.

Since January 5, the Heat, allowing 106 points per 100 possessions, trail only the Clippers and Thunder for the best defense in the NBA.

Ware’s production showed how the Heat could become more consistent, both this season and further off into the future. It could also give Spoelstra new lineups to try. Ware and Adebayo haven’t played a minute together, despite the latter being one of the league’s most versatile defender.  Adebayo is confident Miami’s youth is finding its stride during the peaks and valleys of a long season.

“They’re impacting winning the best way they can,” Adebayo said. “They’re doing what Spo wants them to do. They’re trying to figure out how to play their game but also do it within the system that we’re playing, so I commend them because they’re impacting winning and they have a shot in this league.”

Jaquez and Jović, whose usages increased with Butler out of the lineup, both improved as their minutes and roles grew. Earlier this season, Jaquez said his sophomore season didn’t start as he hoped, but he enjoyed one of his best NBA moments during Miami’s loss to Sacramento on January 6, when he contributed 16 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and five steals en route to his first career triple-double. During the road trip, Jaquez led the team with 4.7 assists, trailing only Herro in 3-point percentage (42.1). His seven consecutive games with double-figure scoring are tied for the second-longest streak of his career.

“Ups and downs with a young player are normal,” Herro said. “I went through it myself. I think that’s the hardest thing: just finding consistency night in and night out. That’s a challenge for any young player. I think getting the reps every night is ultimately what young guys need, to be able to continue to get better and go through ups and downs, play through mistakes. But they’re all playing very well. You can see how good they can be, and I’m really excited for them.” 

Jović, who partially credits Butler with his NBA development, continues bouncing back from his own early-season struggles. He recorded a string of DNPs as coach Spoelstra sought continuity for his lineups. Jović’s shooting efficiency fluctuates, but he is getting more confident driving to the basket, attacking the glass and keeping the ball moving, which was a key element for Miami during its road trip. He had a career-high eight assists in Wednesday’s loss to the Lakers. During the road trip, the Heat ranked fourth among all teams in assist rate (67.6 percent).

But the ultimate measure remains how much the team’s chemistry and production can add up to wins, with or without Butler in the lineup. Adebayo and Herro remain confident in being able to lead Miami forward, but trusting their younger teammates can only help. The two Heat pillars are still figuring out how to maximize their respective roles in order to keep the Heat focused on basketball. The Denver Nuggets (24-16) visit Miami on Friday, which could mark Butler’s first game in a Heat uniform since a 128-115 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 2. 

How the team looks once Butler returns remains to be seen, but helping his teammates concentrate on what they can control is one of Herro’s jobs now.

“You try to take the good and build on the good things, stack the good things up,” Herro said on Wednesday. “And the bad, you watch the film. We all feel what the bad is. Just watch the film and figure out ways to make it better, find solutions. I thought, overall, the trip wasn’t bad. Obviously, the Sacramento game, we were in a position to win. … We’ve put ourselves to win almost every night. We just gotta learn ways to win, including myself.”

( Top photo: Soobum Im / Getty Images )