These small changes in Cavs defense limited Tyler Herro in Game 3
Cleveland properly adjusted after Herro lit them up in Game 2.
The Cleveland Cavaliers thoroughly dominated Game 3 against the Miami Heat. That included making sure Miami couldn’t get anything going offensively as they were held to under 90 points for the sixth time this year.
The Heat don’t have a deep team. They rely on Tyler Herro to be their main source of offense. When he isn’t able to get anything going, they can fall apart quickly. Games 2 and 3 show how he dictates their offensive success.
Herro is a three-level scorer. In Game 2, he did most of his damage from the midrange with his floater.
As we’ve seen with Ty Jerome when he gets cooking, the floater is an incredibly tough shot to take away. The help defense can’t just wait at the rim to provide assistance. They need to already be providing resistance as soon as Herro gets two feet into the paint.
The Cavs weren’t doing that in Game 2. Their help was arriving to prevent looks at the rim. That’s not where Herro even wants to score.
During the regular season, 28% of his shots came between four and 14 feet from the basket. Meanwhile, only 18% of them came within the restricted area.
Unsurprisingly, the short midrange shot is a look he knocked down efficiently as he converted 54% of his attempts there in the regular season (95th percentile).
Cleveland’s defense almost encouraged him to have this shot in Game 2.
In the clips below, you see that the help defense didn’t start to rotate over until he was firmly in the paint. By that point, he could rise up for his high-percentage floater.
The Cavs simply didn’t give up that shot on Saturday. Herro went from taking 10 short midrange attempts in Game 2 to just three in Game 3.
Cleveland did this by sending the help defense much earlier this time around. They shifted their defense and showed multiple bodies in the lane waiting for him before he ade his move instead of after.
This picture is a good example of that.
Both Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell were shrinking towards the middle of the floor so that they could provide help when Herro made his move. They’re fine providing a late contest on a potential three from Andrew Wiggins (36% on non-corner threes) or Davian Mitchell (41% on non-corner threes) in exchange.
Herro ended up driving into the teeth of the defense here and taking a tough floater. That happened with most of the floaters he took in Game 3.
It’s easy to think of a shot being better the closer you get to the rim. While that’s mostly true, it’s different for every player.
Herro completes a higher percentage of shots at the rim than he does in the short midrange. But a contested layup is a lower-percentage look than a clean ten-foot floater for Herro.
That is partly because it’s easier to help at the rim than it is to help at the free-throw line. The play below shows why that’s the case.
Jarrett Allen stepped up to the level of the screen, which kept Herro from getting to a midrange floater. Evan Mobley was there on the backside to help, but Allen did a good enough job of staying with Herro that the assistance wasn’t needed.
Even though the help defense wasn’t why Herro missed the shot, it illustrates how getting to the level of the screen made it more difficult for Herro to finish inside the arc.
Herro was also able to get going in Game 2 because of his three-point shot. He went 4-11 from distance. You don’t want him taking that many shots.
The Cavs didn’t do a good enough job taking the outside shot away. The following play shows why.
Herro got Allen switched onto him. Allen doesn’t want Herro to blow by him, which gave Herro enough space to get this shot off in Game 2.
Cleveland wasn’t surrendering this good of a look when Allen was switched onto him in Game 3. The Cavs' defense was ready to recover on the drive. This allowed Allen to stay connected with him on the perimeter without fear of being blown by.
In the first clip, Allen put a strong contest on the outside shot. In the second, he forced Herro inside straight into the help defense. That’s exactly what you want in these situations.
The Cavs did a good job of staying connected with Herro on the perimeter and running him off the line. That’s why he attempted just three outside shots in Game 3 compared with the 11 he took in Game 2.
Cleveland made stopping Herro a team-wide effort on Saturday. They continually showed him multiple defenders and forced him away from his best shots. That’s exactly what you need to do in the playoffs against an opponent’s best player.
The Heat aren’t a good offense. They have very few weapons outside of Herro. Defending him as aggressively as they did was an easy decision and one without very many repercussions. You simply aren’t concerned about many of their role players consistently beating you.
The Cavaliers won’t have that same luxury as they get further in the playoffs. This strategy of selling out to take away one player won’t work against well-rounded teams like the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, or Indiana Pacers, but that’s okay.
It’s encouraging that the Cavs were able to identify problem areas and then eliminate them before the next game. That’s what great teams do in the playoffs. It’s also what will translate throughout the rest of the playoffs.