Blakely: C's downed by Heat playing ‘Herro' ball

As a player selected in the lottery (top-14), Tyler Herro came into the NBA expected to be a pretty good player. 

But this good?

This soon?

Nobody saw this coming, especially the Boston Celtics who are on the cusp of having their season come to a screeching halt following a 112-109 Game 4 defeat which puts them in a 3-1 series deficit.

All the Heat has to do now is cook up another win and Miami is off to the NBA Finals, and a big reason for that success has been them playing a lot of “Herro-ball” - as in Tyler Herro. 

He absolutely dominated the floor in Game 4, leading all scorers with 37 points on 14-for-21 shooting from the field. 

“There’s a lot of work to be done still. We got the job done,” Herro told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols following the win. “This was a good win for us tonight.”

Celtics-Heat highlights: Herro sinks C's, moves Heat to doorstep of Finals

The 20-year-old came into the NBA with the reputation of being an above-average shooter. 

But he’s showing there’s more to his game, something the Celtics were well aware of with Herro on their shortlist of targeted players with the No. 14 pick - one spot prior to Miami selecting the former Kentucky star. 

Boston spent a good chunk of the game playing from behind, in large part because of Herro’s clutch shooting. 

But the Celtics were also hurt by the slow start for Jayson Tatum who was scoreless in the first half - a first for him this season - before finishing with 28 points and nine rebounds.

However, Tatum’s scoring much like the rest of the Celtics’ offensive production, was no match for Herro whose heroics have put the Celtics’ season on the cusp of extinction.

TURNING POINT: With the Boston Celtics ahead 85-84 in the fourth quarter, a Miami miss was rebounded by Bam Adebayo whose put-back basket gave Miami a lead that it would not relinquish. 

STARS

Bam Adebayo: The Celtics have had problems containing Bam Adebayo all series long, so it was no surprise to see him control the paint in Game 4. Adebayo had another double-double, tallying 20 points to go with 12 rebounds and four assists. 

STUDS

Jimmy Butler: As we have seen through most of the playoffs, Butler once again came up with big plays in the fourth quarter, whether it was scoring or getting the ball to Tyler Herro. Butler had 24 points along with nine rebounds and three assists.

Kemba Walker: For most of the first half when points were hard to come by for Boston, it was Kemba Walker who kept the Celtics from a complete collapse. He would finish the game with 17 points, four rebounds, and five assists.

Goran Dragic: This was a strong bounce-back game for Dragic who scored 22 points.

Jaylen Brown: He hit a big shot in the closing seconds, but that shot was too little too late for the Celtics. Still, Brown turned in yet another strong game at both ends of the floor, scoring 21 points to go with nine rebounds.

DUDS

Jayson Tatum: He had a great second half for Boston, but Tatum’s inability to do nothing more than grab rebounds in the first half was a major factor in the Celtics’ early hole that had them playing from behind most of the game. Still, Tatum had a strong second-half surge for Boston before finishing with a near double-double of 28 points and nine rebounds with all 28 points scored coming in the second half.