Tyler Herro Drops 37 Points In Historic Night As Heat Take 3-1 Lead On Celtics

Goran Dragic knows that Tyler Herro is capable of monster nights in the NBA, so the veteran point guard wasn’t overly surprised by what happened Wednesday night.

The rookie out of Kentucky exploded for 37 points along with 6 rebounds and 3 assists to lead the Miami Heat to a 112-109 win over the Boston Celtics and a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.

“[In the] second part of the season he was finishing games for us,” Dragic told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt. “He’s not afraid of taking big shots. For me it’s nothing new. I’ve already seen him do that stuff. He’s going to be scary down the road. When he develops a little more, he’s going to be an awesome player.”

Herro’s night was historic on several levels:

—It was the most points by a rookie in the conference finals in NBA history. Andrew Toney is now second with 35 points for Philadelphia in 1981.

—It was the second-most points by a player 20 or younger in NBA playoff history. Magic Johnson went for 42 in the 1980 NBA Finals.

—It was a career-high for Herro, overtaking his previous career-best of 30 last month in a seeding game against the Thunder.

Herro’s historic night impressed ESPN analyst Tim Legler.

“This guy has All-Star capabilities,” he said on air. “I’m talking about not just get there one time but perennial All-Star down the road.”

So how does it feel, Tyler?

“I feel good about it,” he told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols. “There’s a lot of work to be done. We’re up 3-1, big win for us tonight We feel like we could’ve won Game 3, came out with more energy tonight.

“Credit to my teammates and coaches, we got the job done.”

Asked about his own level of fearlessness in shooting the basketball, the No. 13 pick in the draft said, “I mean, that’s just who I am. I grew up like that. I’m going to stay like that for as long as I’m in the league.”

Bam Adebayo, the other former Kentucky player on the Heat, had a big night as well, going for 20 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists, meaning the two former Kentucky players combined for 57 points, 18 rebounds and 7 assists. Adebayo appeared to injure his left wrist or hand late in the game.

The Heat will now try to close out the series in Game 5 on Friday.

“Just get ready for next game,” Herro said. “Next game’s going to be a big one for us. “

Should the Heat advance and meet LeBron James and the Lakers in the NBA Finals, that series would be full of intriguing storylines, as I mentioned in this Tweet.