REACTION: Miami Heat SURVIVE as Tyler Herro and Kel’el Ware Deliver Clutch Victory Over Mavericks

REACTION: Miami Heat SURVIVE as Tyler Herro and Kel’el Ware Deliver Clutch Victory Over Mavericks

Taylor Hero’s back and he was the difference down the stretch as Miami wins their fifth straight game. Wes still worried about how he’s going to fit into the Heat’s offense. Still worried, never worried. Let’s jump in. [Music] You are Locked on Heat, your daily Miami Heat podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. All right, welcome to Locked on Heat, your daily podcast on the Miami Heat, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network. Whether you’re tuning in on YouTube or on your favorite podcast app, thanks for making Locked on Heat your first listen every day. Join the Cookie Gang and become an everydayer. That means subscribing, tuning in every day, Monday through Friday, and signing up to the Lockown Heat text line at the link in the show notes. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use the code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase. I’m Wes Goldberg, host of Locked on NBA Daily and Real GM radio. I’m here with David Rmill. Both of us are credentialed Heat Media members who cover this team every day. Uh David, this was an ugly one. Uh the threes were not falling. It took some late free throws and a clutch defensive play from BAM to seal this one, but you’ll take it on the second night of a backto-back. The Heat beat the Mavs 106 to 102 to win their fifth straight game. Yeah. Uh obviously the team looked a little shaky between the travel and second night of a backto-back trying to incorporate Tyler Hero missing Norm Pal from the lineup. So uh it was a a lot going on there and Miami did not respond well. But you know what a win’s a win. It’s their fifth straight. It’s a a Dallas team that’s underperformed this season but can still challenge teams more than not based on their defense. But Miami got the plays they needed when they needed them most and led to a victory. So, you take it and you try to find a way to continue to build and grow from here. The headline from this game was Tyler Hero’s debut. Uh, after missing the first 17 games of the season because of offseason foot surgery, I thought Hero looked rusty in his first stint. Zero points, missed his first few shots in his first eight minute stint. Um, I thought he was tentative tentative offensively, didn’t quite seem to know where his shots were going to come from, and then when he did get open looks, passed him up. Uh, was just a little too differential. But then somebody must have talked to him on the bench because he came out after that a lot more aggressive. He ended up leading the Heat in this game with 24 points and he did it mostly with his floater. Did not make a three-pointer in this game. Went 0 for two from three-point range, but 12 of 18 overall, which according to my math, that means 12 of 16 uh from two-point range. And uh yeah, I mean did a lot of damage with that floater, which uh we talked about being a potential a potentially huge addition to this offense because it’s a shot that nobody else really has on this roster. To me, it’s fitting that he got to his floater for that go-ahead shot with 42 seconds left that ended up basically being the game-winning uh gamewinner for Miami. Yeah, he looked really comfortable in the mid-range. Uh just able to score the same way he has throughout his whole career. uh and uh did look a little rusty. Uh I’m sure we’ll talk about that in uh better detail, but uh and then it just seemed to click and you mentioned whether or not somebody talked to him. I wonder if it was somebody on the Miami side or somebody on the Dallas side, but either way seemed to lit a fire and he just got into those comfortable spots and I think I he went on quite a run from there. Was able to kind of carry Miami’s offense almost single-handedly really boosted them. him alongside Khil Wear were really the difference offensively for this team that was missing Powell and didn’t get a lot of their usual contributions off the bench either. And so it was a great performance overall from Tyler. I think it was just as good as you could hope for. Maybe, you know, it wasn’t like a game-winning shot perhaps or wasn’t a barrage of three-pointers, but steady, slow, and absolutely necessary for Miami to pull out of a muchneeded win. So, a good overall game from Tyler and I’m sure he’ll continue to get better as he gets more comfortable. Eight points for Tyler in the second quarter, 10 points for him in the third quarter, six points for him in the fourth quarter, right? I mean, he really got it done after that first quarter was a little quiet for him. Uh I don’t think Dallas had an answer for him. It’s not all that surprising. I mean, this Maverick’s defense has been overall pretty solid, but they were without a lot of guys in this game. Um I actually thought Tyler Herro defensively was really strong to start uh the game, especially in that opening stint. Had a couple of steals, four rebounds. We talked a lot about uh especially when Bam was out how they’re obviously they were missing Bam on the glass but they were also missing Talhiro for his positional rebounding and he was aggressive uh crashing the defensive boards there uh was was interestingly enough kind of top locking Max Christie early in this game and that I think kind of threw Dallas’s offense out of sorts. So it wasn’t like Tallaher was just out there. He was pretty instrumental in what they were doing defensively whether it was top blocking some of their shooters or uh or just creating those turnovers. He ended up with uh how many steals did he ended up with in this game? Four or something. Um three three steals in this game. So steals uh a really strong defensive start and overall game from him. In terms of the offense, a lot of it was done. I mean, it was all pretty much done in the mid-range. A lot of it with that float game. The threes were not falling. If I was going to nitpick here, and I will because um look, it it was his first game back after missing the first 17. It was his first time, more importantly, in this offense. He’s never played in this offense before. He wasn’t even part of it during the install in preseason or in training camp, right? He wasn’t on the court. He had already had a surgery at that point. So, um, I don’t think he fit well in the offense. I thought he just kind of looked out of place. Sometimes I’m not really sure he knew what to do. Uh, it looked like maybe, especially early, it was moving too fast for him and he wasn’t really sure and he kind of ended up ball stopping a couple different times. And I thought, but I don’t think that that’s a problem. It doesn’t that that does that’s that’s expected, right? He was going to be rusty and he’s never played in this offense before. And we’ve seen this entire roster take a minute to get used to the new offense, right? It took him in this like in the preseason, everybody looked really bad in this offense. And so, um, I do think it says something that in a game without Norm Powell, Hero just said, “Well, the heck with this whole offense. I’m going to get to my shots and I’m going to carry us home on the second night of back to back.” And I thought that was really impressive from Tyler Hero. But in terms of fitting into the offense, I don’t think he really did it all that well. Yeah, I I think Dallas did a pretty good job also defensively. Their zone defense did confound Miami a bit and slow their overall pace. They were making some pushes there, but without the the benefit of having their three-point shot draw their defense out and and, you know, allow for some easier look at the rims. things got a little bit uh I think they just flattened out Miami’s offense to a big That’s a really good point. Like the the the whole offense didn’t look that great. Yeah. Um the three-point shot wasn’t falling for anybody. I mean 19% overall from three. So it just looked clunky and that’s such a huge factor in trying to offset what they were trying to do and getting to the rim and keep up that pace. And it’s easy when you can put up those shots from 25 feet out and transition buckets, but none of those shots were falling. So uh it kind of fell back to you know what, we need a score. we’re kind of here flattened into the half court offense sets and what are we going to do? And that’s Tyler’s like, “Hey, you know what? That’s kind of my bread and butter. That’s what’s got me to this point so far and I’m going to be able to look much more comfortable.” And that’s exactly what he did. He was able to take off either a first defender or second defender. You know, if he got a screen or even created a little space for himself, that’s all he really needed to let go of that floater getting. Got to the rim a couple times, too. So, you know, a really solid overall game from him. I’m not too concerned about the not fitting into the offense part of it because I think again once you have your full cadre of players and once those shots fall as they regularly do tonight was just an off night I think offensively I’m not worried about whether or not Tyler is going to be able to find his place in it but it just it did look a little clunky and yet he still looked really good for most of the game. He looked great for most of the game and totally and to your point totally expected. I am also not concerned about his long-term fit in this offense. I I think it’s going to be a good fit. Eric Sper talked about it before the game how his skill set is a natural fit. It’s something you and I have talked about a lot. And the threes are eventually going to fall and when they do, everything will kind of lift with it. Um to your point about Miami getting slowed down by Dallas’s defense overall in this game. Also second night of a backto-back, tired legs, sluggish, all of these things, right? Um they had 100 possessions according to cleaning the glass in this game. That would have Miami typically ranks first with just over 106 possessions per game. 100 possessions would have ranked 26th. So that’s the difference between the first uh fastest pace in the league to the 26th pace in the league. Uh this game was slow. Both teams had 100 possessions in this game. So this this game was played really slowly. And Hero gets a ton of credit for just saying, you know what, first game back, don’t care. I’m going to figure it out. I think overall super impressed with Tyler Herro being able to get that done, especially considering how kind of lost he looked in that opening stint versus how aggressive he looked for the rest of the game. And he had the game-winning shot. He had the floater with 42 seconds left that ended up it it broke the tie and it and it gave the Heat the uh the shot they needed. Bam. Hit the free throws after that. That turned it into a onepossession game to a two- possession game. But Hero is the one that broke the tie in the most important shot of the game. And so uh I thought it was a tremendous game by him. We’ll talk a little bit more about BAM’s defensive play in this game and we’re going to hand out some credit cookies after this unlocked on heat. Today’s episode is brought to you by Robin Hood. Nobody knows your money goals better than you. Robin Hood puts you in control of your money with tools that work as hard as you do. 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[Music] Another heat win, which means it’s time for the tastiest segment of Lock on Heat. David, it’s time for credit cookies. Who you got? Well, I think we’ll start off with player of the game from Miami on his first night back this season. Kyle Herro gets four credit cookies. Four credit cookies. Yeah, I do think so. I I’ve only got three players getting credit cookies today because again, I think you had a lot of missed opportunities. You’re missing two starters. No Andrew Wiggins, no Norm Powell. Both of those guys big-time contributors, especially Palace offense, weekend’s two-way versatility. Those are just they’re so vital to Miami success this season and then just kind of underscores the team’s death when you’re getting guys like Haime and Pella Larson and Simone Fonte, all of them contributing off the bench. Uh, and those contributions weren’t there, but Tyler was. He was the impactful player. He was the one who figured it out over the course of the game. He was the one who managed to make Miami’s offense look respectable and ultimately it was just enough to help the team pull out a necessary win there. So that’s why he gets four credit cookies, not just for his offense, but I was also impressed by his defense. As you pointed out earlier, he wasn’t out of place. I don’t think he was being targeted the same way he has in the past. It just looked like he was able to hold his own, make some right decisions, and he had a couple screens that he died on there, I think, overall, but I think still a pretty solid showing from him and something he can continue to build on. Yep. Who’s next? I’ve got four for Khilar, who is just the story again. Like, if not for Tyler’s big night and his return, I think we’d all be talking about Khil because it’s just another phenomenal performance from him. He’s getting so dependable. so necessary, I’d say, even on those uh just to pull back rebounds, to be able to save possessions or to end possessions for an opponent. Uh he’s just been a vital part of what Miami has been able to do over the last five game stretch. He’s getting better and better, more consistent. Finished with three blocks on the night, 16 rebounds, and rebounds 20 18 rebounds, sorry, and 20 points as well. Seven of 14 from the floor. uh his three-pointers as well. He was really threes. Made three of them. I think all three of them were in the second half. I saw a comment that uh Norm Powell is likely to be an all-star. And then I don’t know if it’s half joking or not at this point. Can Khil wear allar consideration? Like is that where we are? Like two weeks ago it seemed like wow. He just can’t seem to figure it out. I don’t know like if he plays this way for the next month or two. Heck, he was nominated for player of the week. NBA player of the week came and Norm both like that’s not something you can overlook. If the NBA he’s had considering him in that regard 20 point he scored 20 points in the last three games and had at least 14 rebounds in each of those games. He had 14 rebounds, 16 rebounds and then 18 rebounds. So he’s going up by two. So next game he’ll have 20 rebounds of course and and 20 points. I was really rooting for the 20 and 20 in this game to be honest and and if that had happened that those nice round 20s he might have been the story of the game even with Tyler Herro coming back but he was awesome in this game and the blocks were great and it’s a thing that I called out on Sunday against Philadelphia. The numbers are the numbers and they’re great. I love the production. You need the production. It’s the physicality that he’s playing with consistently every time he’s out there on the court. I don’t know what happened to this guy. This guy was kind of just a a limp tree kind of blowing in the wind for like the first couple weeks of the season and then just Udonis Hasslam texted him and then everything changed. It’s absolutely crazy. The guy is playing with a level of force. He’s engaging muscle groups now. I I don’t know what’s going on. He had this one shot from under, not even under, behind the basket where he had to reach. It was like a Giannis Victor Webbyama style shot where he reaches from behind and just kind of puts it back into the basket. The physical capabilities that this guy has, it’s like nothing else that the Heat have ever had on the roster. Like even out like Hassan Whitide wasn’t as live as as Kel Wear is, right? Like this isn’t it’s there there’s just things that he does probably once a game that just leave your jaw on the floor. Yeah. But even beyond that, like those special with between the special moments, he’s bringing the physicality. The rebounding has never been better with him. We asked if it was a breakthrough. I think, you know, I’m he’ll I’m sure he’ll have a bad game at some point, but man, like it really does feel like this is a breakthrough for him. Yeah. I I I don’t can’t find any argument against that to be honest with you. Uh and you know what? I love the emotional edge because I think yes, one of the knocks on him even when we did the the the pre-draft process is like does he even care? What’s his motor like? That was the question of one of the questions many questions going uh you know going into the league is how is he going to respond? And sure enough as a rookie there were moments there where he didn’t feel like he was responding. Heck even a couple weeks ago I think our criticism was pointed and deserved like he he was not playing this way. uh the the there was energy was not there, the intensity was not there, the purpose, none of it was there. And now he’s just got this edge. He’s talking smack. He’s staring guys down like he’s acting like he owns this court and he’s kind of feeling himself a little bit and I’m all here for it 100% because he’s bringing it every night and he’s been really great. Like he had a monster game yesterday in Philadelphia, followed up with a monster game today. That’s great level of play. That’s really consistent. That’s uh that star level quality right there. Yeah, he’s outplayed not star centers, but Nikolus, Andre Drummond, and then Daniel Gaffford. Those are big experienced centers that are not pushovers and he’s outplayed them the last three games. And that that’s that means something, right? I don’t expect him to go out there and outplay Nicola Joic, but if you’re out playing these guys who are all considered above average like high quality rotation starting level centers and you’re just out there outplaying them consistently, third tier, I’d say if you’re looking at the center position in the NBA, there’s probably got to be a third tier. Like first tier is Jokic. I guess you could still consider Yeah. Wic is Jokic is in the Jokic tier and then I guess like there’s other Yeah, it’s unfair but Yeah. And then there’s second tier, which is kind of everybody else. And he’s got an upcoming matchup against Jaylen Duran. He’s now, I think, pretty firmly in that second tier. And he’s a very strong physical player, too. I put Ev. Yeah, I would say so. So, he’s still a notch below those guys, but let’s see how he stacks up. It’s a great call. We’ll see. He’s in a Miles Turner category, you know. I would say that maybe in third tier. If he’s already in the Miles Turner category, that’s that’s huge. That’s I mean that’s the guy that people that was one of his most common comps going into the draft was Miles Turner. So if he’s already at that Miles Turner spot in his second season that means that you know what Eric Spolster said this the other day. I think it was after the Philadelphia game. He doesn’t want to put a ceiling on on Khlo Wear. Man he looks really good. This is really exciting and it’s a big deal and him and Bam together have been awesome and I have a feeling I know who’s getting these next couple credit cookies. Yeah, I’ve got to go with Bam. Although he he did struggle tonight. 7-11 from the free throw line. Those were some pretty egregious misses early in the game. Five of 13 from the floor. So, the shot wasn’t there. Like, there were those were shots that were imminently makeable from him. And I was a little surprised to see that he couldn’t do it. But then he also had six rebounds, an assist, a steal, two blocks, only two turnovers. Um, so it was a really solid night overall and did have some big possessions down the stretch. So, I kind of felt like by default he had to get the two credit cookies because I don’t know who else you’d give them to. Could you give them to DaVon Mitchell? Maybe he gets one. But other than that, Kash Johnson was okay in his brief stint. Like those are I mean, you could go Haime off the bench. He had his moments if you really wanted to, but I’m okay with Bam getting a couple. I called you out on the last one. I think he’s owed a couple, frankly. So, I’m okay kind of giving them to him in a makeup here. But look, he’s deserving. He look, he he was a minus 16 in this game, it was the worst on the team, but this is, I think, one of those situations where the plus minus doesn’t tell the whole story. Um, what he did at the end of this game was tremendous. And I thought defensively he was really big in this game for most of it. And, uh, to steal the inbound when this game was, uh, tied at 102 with like 50 seconds left and he steals the inbound like the way that he does. I mean, that’s a defensive player of the year highlight reel play. That’s what that was. He steals the inbound, gets it to streaking taller hero and and that leads to that hero floater that we were talking about for the go-ahhead essentially game winner. And if you want to give somebody else the gamewinner, I mean, that was the go-ahead shot to win the game, but Bam sealed it by putting him up two possessions with those free throws late. So, he missed some free throws, but he hit the most important ones. And, you know, from Bam, it wasn’t like the overall production wasn’t there for him, but he did the most important things in the most important moments. And that’s worth credit cookies. Like that’s sort of why we have credit cookies. If you want to just look at the scoreboard and the box score, you could do that. We could have a whole segment where we just read the box score, but why people come to us is for the credit cookies and that tells you the real story. Absolutely. Well said. Um yeah, I mean there were some other players I I can’t I can’t take them away from Bam. I just felt like those impact plays really made the difference. Everybody else was kind of just treading water for most of the game. Crumbs for DaVon Mitchell, crumbs for Haime Hakage Jr. That’s fair. That’s fair. Okay, that’s good. Uh, so two credit cookies to Bam. Two uh four to KL wear. Four Tyler Herro’s first four of the season. Won’t be his last four, I’m sure. Um, coming up next, our listener questions, including uh Talah in this new offense. Sure. Permanently in the starting lineup. Talk about that next. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Basketball season is officially here, and nothing beats being in the arena for those opening games. But let’s be real, getting tickets can be a total headache between waiting in cues, surprise fees, and prices that jump right before checkout. It’s easy to get frustrated when all you want to do is cheer on your team. And that’s where Game Time comes in. It’s the app that gives fans the advantage. 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Let’s get to this first question from Andrew who writes in Talah looked really good in this space in the space from this offense. Looks like a perfect fit. Starting lineup thoughts? I’m thinking this lineup with Norm at the three, but if you start Hero and Norm with Wiggins at the three, then Pal or Wiggins would have to be the point of attack defender. Definitely a lot of options, but I think having one of Da’Von Mitchell or Drew Smith in most of the game is also great. Um, I couldn’t help I wanted to try to stay in the moment as much as I could, especially at the end of this game, but I couldn’t help but think with Tyler Hero playing the way that he’s playing, with Norm Powell playing the way that he’s playing, they have to start, David, and I think that has that that creates a lot of different kinds of questions, right? Because it’s Hero, it’s Powell, it’s obviously Bam. I think you have to start Wiggins just because of his position. You have to start Khil. And don’t you have to start Khil? I mean, is that it? Is did we just land on the starting lineup? Kind of. I I mean, you can make a case for a couple other players. I don’t think you want to put Wigs off the on the bench either. I think considering he was solid and that two-way versatility is essential there, even though does provide a lot defensively. You’re you’re losing some defense by benching DaVon Mitchell. But I think of all the players, he could probably handle it a little bit better. Uh that quotequote demotion. And I think similarly with Pella too, like he’s been asked to be a productive starter and I think he’s thrived in that role, but I think you can play him alongside Haime in that backup lineup and uh either one of Bam or Khib will still be out there during those possessions. That’s not a bad place to be. So you’ve definitely got a lot of options there. I just wonder about the playmaking between Pal and Hero. Um I think Hero is just going to be more of your playmaker at that point. Not to say that Pal can’t, you know, give up the ball every once in a while, but he just seems much more focused on being able to find his shots and he’s thrived in that regard and you certainly don’t want to change what he’s been able to produce from Miami. So, it’s going to be interesting. But, yeah, you’ve got some playmaking across the board, too. Obviously, Bam can create. I think Wigs can create a little bit, too. So, you just won’t have a natural point guard out there, but at least you’ll have that with a second unit. So Da’Von and Haime coming off the bench. They’ll be sharing de facto point guard duties there and then you’ll get Pella’s minutes as well. Kishot I guess is probably going to be buried on the bench again and you have to assume that I don’t know what’s going to happen to Yoic at this point. Obviously he’s not even available so it’s not a question but you kind of felt like you have to play him. I think it’s important to do so and yet he just hasn’t done enough to warrant any kind of consistent playing time. I mean, you have to play him just because he’s your third big and if you’re starting where and Bam. I mean, they’ve been playing Kashad Johnson as that other big basically. And so, um, it just feels like you have to have another one out there and then you’re between Simone and Drew maybe for that fifth bench spot they’ve been mostly playing with. It’s not going to be easy, uh, for Spo, but I also like I like having DaVon in the starting lineup. He’s so good at pushing the pace. He’s always in the right spot, not only defensively, but offensively. And with Tyler Herro kind of still figuring out the offense, I don’t know. You don’t want Norm Powell on the ball because he’s been so good as that second side attacker, right? Do you want Hero running point of an offense that he’s doesn’t know yet? Not really. So, I I don’t I don’t know what they’re going to do. I This is not an easy decision. I really like the idea of DaVon staying in that starting lineup, but you can only have five starters. You’re not allowed to start six guys. It’s a rule. So, I don’t make things easier for Miami if they could. It would. And so, part of me wonders because and some of this also depends on their overall health, right? like but assuming full health here if you don’t think Nico is rotation ready right now for some reason even at even when he’s healthy do you move wear back to the bench just so that you have your two bigs kind of staggered that way and start DaVon Powell hero wigs at the four and then bam you’re playing pretty small but you have a good point of attack on the defender on DaVon you’ve got Wigs in there you’ve got Bam in there and then you obviously have the the Norm who’s been solid defensively and if you keep getting performances like this from hero defensively it’s less of an issue and Dallas did a really poor they don’t have a real like on ball creator so they didn’t have a guy that could attack Tyler Herro like we’ve seen people attack Tyler Hero in the past and pick and roll so we’ll see but uh it’s not going to be an easy decision for Eric Bolster to make uh can he go ahead sorry no I don’t mean to take too long but can it be situational do you think spo would be like oh you know what in this game we’ll kind of go to Khil as your starter and your next game maybe depending on the point guard match up. Maybe Sardavia. He could definitely do that. I think he could definitely do that. That’s a good call. Um Jonah writes in, oh no, uh Cameron writes in, let’s go with this other Tyler Herro question. Cameron writes in, “Do you see Tyler Herro continuing to play more on the ball like he did in this game with Norm playing off the ball or do you think it’ll be a case by case basis? Kind of already talked about this.” Yes. I think that you Yes. Right. I think you want Hero more on ball. I think you want Norm more off ball. And it’s gonna Hero is going to need the reps, too. Yep. No doubt. Jonah writes in, “Is Kelw really really here? I feel like it’s official when Eric Spolster closes with him all the way through.” He’s getting there though. One other note, not only did he close with them, Kwer played more minutes than Bamabio. He did. Could you imagine that happening? No. Based on some of Eric’s like the the comments that Spo was making in Vegas and in training camp, I mean, we have come a long way in a very short time. Yeah, I I know Bam was on somewhat of a minutes restriction there, but I don’t think that’s the case. I I I don’t again I just even at one point I think it was in the third quarter when Dallas was making their push. SP goes to Khil like is a you know what we need you out there because you’ve been providing that edge for us. Did in the fourth quarter too. Did it in third and the fourth quarter? Yep. So uh it’s just at this point now I I don’t know. I I feel like like where’s this emerging? He’s just too much of a of an important factor here. So, it’s just uh it’s interesting to see how Spo handles all this moving forward. Last one here comes from Malachi. PJ Washington would look good in a Miami Heat uniform. Any chance we could swing a deal for him at the deadline? Yes. Where would you put him? Yeah. Where would we put him at this point? In the in the Yovic spot. That’s where it would be, right? he would be your third big behind Bam and wear which I think the he the he can use somebody whether that’s Nico stepping up which I’m not ruling out again look at what how we were talking about Kell just a couple of weeks ago versus now I’m not ruling anything out but they need more from Nico and if they’re not getting more from Nico then they need they need somebody in that third big spot as good as Bam and where have been you just you need a third one now PJ Washington would be a very very good third one. Yeah. Would Yoic isn’t enough. You’d have to be Yoic and something else. So if I’m Dallas, I’m asking for probably two firsts. PJ Washington is on a team friendly deal. He’s young. He can fit with Cooper flag. I have no reason to trade him, right? Like one first isn’t enough for me to do it if I’m Dallas. That’s not who they’re looking to move, right? From that. Yeah. Right. Like you literally It has to be You have to overpay. It has to be an offer you can’t refuse. And that would be like two decent first round picks. And I that Miami is not doing that. Not for PJ Washington, right? Um, but he would look at an heat uniform, but uh, they do need somebody in that spot. Hopefully, it’s Nico who steps up. That’ll do it for us today. Let us know what you think in the comments. What did you think about Talah Herro’s debut? Do you think Kellwear is really, really here? This has been Lockdown Heat, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

Miami Heat notch their fifth straight win as Tyler Herro returns with a clutch mid-range takeover, raising big questions about the team’s evolving identity. Can Herro’s aggressive scoring and improved defense supercharge Miami’s new-look offense—and is Kel’el Ware on track for All-Star status after another dominant double-double?

Wes Goldberg and David Ramil break down Herro’s 24-point explosion, Ware’s rise as an impact big, and Bam Adebayo’s game-sealing defensive stand against the Dallas Mavericks.

Key discussions spotlight Miami’s lineup challenges as Norm Powell, Andrew Wiggins, and Davion Mitchell compete for starting roles, the Heat’s sluggish pace amid shooting struggles, and trade ideas involving P.J. Washington. The hosts debate whether Erik Spoelstra should tweak rotations to maximize Herro’s and Powell’s on-ball chemistry, and why Ware’s recent physicality may be a season-defining breakthrough. Can this Miami squad keep building momentum and solidify its Eastern Conference standing?

00:00 Intro
04:11 Tyler Herro makes his season debut
11:39 Credit Cookies
25:15 Heat Lineup Questions Loom

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