How Tyler Herro came up clutch for the Heat, and more takeaways from Sunday’s overtime win

Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 110-105 overtime win over the Chicago Bulls (8-16) on Sunday at AmericanAirlines Arena ...

1. Rookie guard Tyler Herro has been a bigger part of the Heat’s (17-6) offense lately because of injuries, and he has looked good in that role.

With Goran Dragic (strained right groin) and Justise Winslow (strained lower back) out, Herro has been used in more of an on-ball role over the past two games. The results have been very positive, with Herro posting a stat line of 27 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the field and 5-of-11 shooting on threes, five rebounds and three assists against the Bulls following Friday’s 22-point outing against the Wizards.

Herro was especially effective down the stretch, scoring 16 of the Heat’s final 18 points of the game with the help of 4-of-4 shooting on threes during that time. The 19-year-old scored 11 of Miami’s 13 points in overtime.

“I don’t shy away from taking the big shot,” Herro said. “I have a lot of confidence. Down the stretch, Jimmy [Butler] trusted me with the ball, he got me in good spots to known down a couple of threes.”

Coach Erik Spoelstra said of Herro: “As we have gotten to know him in the short period of time, you can see his confidence. If your max player [Butler] trusts you at that point in the game, and Jimmy was looking for him, that says all you need to know. That trust has been earned within our walls and Jimmy has seen what this kid can do in those situations.”

Over the past two games with Dragic and Winslow both unavailable, Herro has averaged 24.5 points, six rebounds and 2.5 assists. He tied a season-high with 18 shot attempts Friday and set a new season-high with 22 shot attempts Sunday.

As far as usage rate (an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while on the court), Herro posted his second-highest usage rate of the season in Sunday’s win over the Bulls at 27.2 percent. Friday’s win over the Wizards ranks as No. 5 on that list at 25 percent.

Because the Heat is injured and missing two primary ball-handlers, Herro has been asked to do more. And he has delivered.

“Next man up, always,” Herro said. “We’ve got a couple guys banged up. Hopefully they’ll be back as soon as possible. But when we don’t have someone, the goal is still the same thing, go out there and get the W.”

2. It was a rough first quarter for the Heat. And for the first time this season, Miami had to really sweat during a home game.

The Bulls won the first quarter 25-16. It tied the Heat’s fourth-lowest scoring quarter of the season, with Miami shooting just 4 of 15 in the period.

While the Heat won the next two quarters, the outcome of the game was very much in doubt until the final seconds of overtime.

This is new for Miami, which entered defeating teams by a league-best average margin of 17.1 points at home this season.

But the Heat prevailed, outscoring the Bulls 13-8 in overtime behind Herro’s late-game heroics. Miami is 3-0 in overtime games and has outscored its opponent by a combined margin of 36-15 in overtime this season.

“In many regards, that was a game that you are not supposed to win,” Spoelstra said. “They outplayed us for large parts of that game.”

The Heat is also now 10-0 at home, which is the best home start in franchise history. Seven of the 10 wins have come by double digits.

Center Bam Adebayo was a force, as usual, with 21 points, 13 rebounds and six assists Sunday. But he finished with a team-high and career-high seven turnovers.

Adebayo was in some discomfort in the locker room following the game, after logging 41 minutes while playing through a right groin contusion.

“I had to breathe and go to my happy place, meditate for a while,” Adebayo said of exiting the game in pain for a brief moment in overtime before re-entering. “I just walked to the table.”

Lauri Markkanen led the Bulls with 22 points.

3. Butler didn’t have the most efficient offensive night, but he made up for it with his ability to drive into the paint and draw fouls.

Butler shot just 3 of 14 from the field and 0 of 5 on threes, but he still finished with 23 points Sunday because he was 17 of 21 from the foul line. Those 21 free-throw attempts represent a season-high for Butler, and that total is tied for the fourth-most he has taken in a single game in his NBA career.

“We could not get to our normal flow, and that’s what great players do,” Spoelstra said. “They keep you alive with possessions and Jimmy did that the entire night. When the play was broken, he was able to find his way to the line and that kept us going and always kept us in striking distance.”

This is really nothing new for Butler, who entered averaging 8.7 free-throw attempts per game this season. That’s the fourth-most in the NBA, behind only Houston’s James Harden (14.6), Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (10.8) and Dallas’ Luka Doncic (9.5).

With triple-doubles in two of the previous three games, Butler finished with six rebounds and seven assists against the Bulls. His ability to draw free throws proved to be vital Sunday.

4. The Heat’s usual ball movement was missing.

Entering with an average of 25.1 assists per game, the Heat finished regulation with 16 assists Sunday. But four overtime assists bumped that total up to 20 for the game.

Spoelstra credited the Bulls’ aggressive and disruptive defense for the Heat’s dip in ball movement. Chicago forces the most turnovers in the league at 18.3 per game, and Miami finished with 17.

In regulation, the Heat shot 41.8 percent from the field and 8 of 30 on threes before making 3 of 5 from deep in overtime.

“They are well-coached and committed to their defense all year long,” Spoelstra said of the Bulls. “They are uniquely disruptive. Your normal passing lanes close quickly, so our typical ball movement led to situations where we thought there were wide open shots and they were closing those gaps really quickly.”

Free throws helped the Heat overcome its offensive issues. Miami outscored Chicago 35-22 at the foul line, with the help of a 44-27 advantage in free-throw attempts led by Butler’s ability to draw contract.

5. Even with injuries and early foul trouble, Heat forward James Johnson remained out of the rotation Sunday.

Dragic and Winslow were among those unavailable. And Herro, Derrick Jones Jr. and Duncan Robinson each picked up two first-quarter fouls.

But Johnson didn’t get in the game. Johnson has received six consecutive DNP-CD’s (did not play-coach’s decision) and has played a total of 10 minutes over the Heat’s past 14 games.

All of this comes after a turbulent start to the season, with Johnson away from the team for the first 10 days of training camp and the preseason after failing to meet the Heat’s conditioning requirements. He was sent away on the eve of training camp on Sept. 30 and did not return to the team until Oct. 11, and he has seemed to face an uphill climb in making it back into the Heat’s rotation ever since.

The Heat stuck with a nine-man rotation Sunday. Herro was the first player used off the bench, followed by Derrick Jones Jr., Kelly Olynyk and Chris Silva.