Winderman’s view: Tyler Herro looking for a friend, as Heat stumble in Cleveland

CLEVELAND — Observations and other notes of interest from Sunday night’s 121-100 NBA playoff loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers:

– Does it now turn to how to get Tyler Herro help?

– When it comes to shot creation for the Heat, there is Herro and …?

– Sunday it basically was a case of there being no bad shots for Herro, no matter how many he took.

– Because who else?

– Yes, Bam Adebayo scored.

– But he is not a shot creator.

– He is not the one-on-one factor so essential in playoff basketball.

– And then you look at the Cavaliers.

– To think, there actually was a juncture where there was thought of Cleveland trading Darius Garland.

– Instead, he is the perfect scoring complement to Donovan Mitchell.

– As Sunday’s box score showed.

– You know who Herro could use alongside?

– Darius Garland.

– But we digress.

– Terry Rozier certainly wasn’t the answer, even though it seemed to make sense 15 months ago.

– Jaime Jaquez Jr. hasn’t been that.

– Like Rozier, he doesn’t even play.

– Andrew Wiggins’ disposition is not of an attack player.

– Which is why the Warriors dealt for Butler.

– As for Davion Mitchell’s offense in this one, it was too little too late.

– Tyler Herro or bust can work during the regular season.

– It can work in the play-in.

– But in the playoffs, it is about intensive defensive focus.

– And that, as Sunday showed, is asking a lot.

– With Tyler Herro seemingly asking for a friend on offense.

– Able to do only so much for so long before running on fumes.

– As expected, the Heat stayed with their play-in lineup of Kel’el Ware, Adebayo, Wiggins, Herro and Alec Burks.

– Wiggins opened defensively on Mitchell, Herro on Garland.

– Haywood Highsmith was first off the Heat bench.

– Playing ahead of play-in star Mitchell.

– Who entered second.

–  Duncan Robinson was the Heat’s third reserve.

– With Kyle Anderson again making it nine deep.

– With his first 3-pointer, Robinson extended his all-time lead on the Heat’s playoff list. He entered with 143, with LeBron James second at 123.

– Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said at the morning shootaround that it was time to move on from the play-in success and focus on creating new success.

– “That’s over,” he said. “So now it’s on to the next challenge.”

– He added, “We didn’t have more days to prepare and I think that’s good, that’s a good thing.”

– He also said, “Momentum in the playoffs doesn’t necessarily carry over. It’s more about our fundamentals, bringing that competitive edge.”

– The mindset, Spoelstra said, is now thinking in terms of a series, compared to the one-and-done of the play-in.

– “You have to be ready for everything in a series,” he said. “There’s going to be things that go your way, things that don’t go your way. You have to be able to manage that.”

– Of the Cavaliers, he said, “They’re a quality opponent. I mean, they’ve played consistent, at a consistently high level all season long, very few dips. I guess if you have 64 wins, there’s not going to be many dips. You have to respect what they’re done.”

– The Cavaliers went in with ample respect for the Heat defense, including the zone.

– “I think they’re definitely really, really talented and really good in that regard, as far as the zone, being able to mix it up defensively with their schemes,” guard Donovan Mitchell said. “They’re in the gaps. They’re always going to play hard. They’re always going to be where they need to be and helping each other.”

– Mitchell added, “So, for us, continue to find our ways that we beat it and then continue to keep making the simple plays over and over.”

– The game was the Heat’s first-ever in the playoffs against the Cavaliers.

– The Heat previously had faced all other Eastern Conference teams in playoff series: Boston (seven times), Chicago (seven times), New York (six times), Indiana (five times), Milwaukee (four times), Atlanta (three times), Brooklyn (three times), Charlotte (three times), Detroit (three times), Philadelphia (three times), Orlando (once), Toronto (once) and Washington (once).

– In fact, the Heat had multiple playoff series against a pair of Western Conference teams before a postseason series against the Cavaliers: Dallas (twice) and San Antonio (twice).