Herro takes advice from Wade as Heat tries to finish off the Celtics in Game 5

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The volume of text messages Miami guard Tyler Herro received after Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals was overwhelming. He didn’t have time to reply to most, including close friends who came over to celebrate the best game of his life.

Among those who received text messages from Herro: Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade, a pair of players who know what it’s like to win an Eastern Conference title with the Heat.

“Shaq hit me, D-Wade hit me,” Herro said Thursday (Friday Manila time). “D-Wade, we’ve talked a couple of times after the playoff games. He says ‘good game’ and gives me some advice on what he sees when he watches. “

Herro and the Heat seem to be putting that advice to good use. They are one win away from the NBA Finals, leading the Boston Celtics 3-1 in this series of East titles with Game 5, the possible deciding factor, awaiting Friday night at Walt Disney World.

There were no celebratory tones at the Heat’s optional practice Thursday. They know how close the series has come, and perhaps the biggest test is the composite score from all four games: Celtics 441, Heat 441.

“You just have to keep trying to get better as the series goes on,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It will be two extremely desperate and urgent teams. That’s what the playoffs are all about. “

PHOTO: AP

The closeness of the games works both ways: While it serves as a reason for the Heat to be cautious, it also works as a reason for the Celtics to be optimistic. No Boston team has successfully recovered from a 3-1 deficit since 1981, although the Celtics also have no reason to feel like they’ve been outmatched in this series.

“I think if we do our best, if we are focused on what we have to accomplish and we play with great authority and confidence, then we can win any game,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “That’s what you have to go into any game with. You don’t play the series score as much as you play the importance of each possession. I think that’s the bottom line. We have to play each possession with the utmost importance. “

Finding an answer for Herro is probably also of the utmost importance.

The 20-year-old rookie scored 37 points in Miami’s Game 4 win, helping carry Miami into a night where Jae Crowder and Duncan Robinson, two of the best 3-point shooters on the Heat’s roster, were a combined from 1 to 14 from the floor, 1 by 11 from the 3-point range.

“Herro got going, obviously, at a ridiculous level,” Stevens said. “But he is very capable of that.”

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Here are some things to know before Game 5 on Friday:

HEALTH UPDATE

Center Bam Adebayo (shoulder) got a lot of ice and treatment after Game 4, and Miami hopes he’s ready for Game 5. Spoelstra noted that it’s been a physical series for everyone, adding: “I think everyone knows on both sides. what to expect. “

TRIGGERING RECORDINGS

The free throw in this series has been like no other title match in the East. Teams are combining to make 83.6% of their free throws in four games, putting this on track to become the East’s best finals from the foul line. The 1974 Eastern Finals between Boston and New York saw those clubs combine to shoot 83.0% from the foul line. Boston’s 84.7% clip in this series is also on track to be the best single-team performance in an Eastern Conference final; Indiana shot 84.3% in the 2000 Eastern title series.

BALANCED HEAT

In Game 4, Herro became the fifth different Heat player to lead the team in scoring so far in these playoffs, joining Adebayo, Goran Dragic, Jimmy Butler and Duncan Robinson. “They have so many good players,” Stevens said.

5 SEEDS

Miami could be the first No. 5 seed to reach the NBA Finals. The lowest seeds have gotten there – No. 8 New York in 1999, and Houston seeded sixth in both 1981 and 1995 – but the Heat would be the first No. 5 seeded team to do so.

GREAT FINISH

Boston’s Jayson Tatum scored all 28 points in Game 4 after halftime. He became the first Celtic to score 28 points in the second half of a playoff game since Ray Allen, who scored 28 of his 30 points in the final two quarters to lead Boston to a 118-115 victory over Chicago on the 20th. April 2009. Isaiah Thomas scored 33 points after halftime in Boston’s win over Washington on May 2, 2017, but the last nine of them came in overtime.
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