Tyler Herro is having the best three-point shooting season of his young career. Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers, Herro had the best three-point shooting quarter of his life.
Herro outscored the Lakers all by himself in the third quarter, making seven three-pointers and scoring 21 points as the Miami Heat outscored the Lakers 36-20. The 24-year-old guard didn’t miss until his eighth attempt from behind the arc, nine minutes into the quarter.
All season long, the Lakers have been hurt by a disparity in three-point shooting. They’re making 11.8 threes per game, but giving up 13.7 threes, effectively giving themselves a six-point disadvantage every game. It’s been getting worse recently, as the Lakers gave up 15 threes to the Minnesota Timberwolves Monday and 14 to the Utah Jazz on Sunday.
Not to take anything away from Herro’s impressive shooting, but the Lakers were giving him all kinds of space behind the arc. It was hard to tell if the defense was confused or simply apathetic as Herro drilled back-to-back threes to stretch Miami’s lead to 21 points.
Herro is now shooting 42% on three-pointers for the season and making 4.3 per game, both career-highs. With his 31 points Wednesday, he’s averaging a career-best 24.1 points per game, which leads his team. He’s almost single-handedly made the Heat a respectable outside shooting team, making nearly twice as many three-pointers as his closest teammate, Duncan Robinson (86 to 45).
With their 134-93 win, the Heat climbed back to .500 at 10-10, and snapped a two-game losing streak. They can thank Herro, and some very disinterested Lakers defense.
