Tyler Herro had an impressive 14-point, 4-assist performance tonight in the Maimi Heat’s 3-point win against the Spurs. However, a few of his off-court encounters garnered more attention on social media than his on-court heroics. A fight broke out in the stands of Kaseya Center during his post-game interview on the court, which distracted the Heat guard.
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Additionally, Herro used the wrong set of words to describe Victor Wembanyama’s size which caused him some embarrassment as well.
Herro revealed during a locker room interview how difficult it was to score against Wembanyama. The Heat star said that the 7ft 4” player forces his opponents to “bring out different things to finish over him”.
Herro wanted to point out how Wemby’s size advantage prompts undersized players to find different angles to score. But he worded it in a way that sounded like a sexual innuendo. This would lead to Herro having a “pause moment”.
“His length is crazy, pause,” Herro said to reporters as they broke into laughter.
Tyler Herro on facing a player like Victor Wembanyama. He at one point made an overarching shot over him tonight.
“His length is crazy, pause…” #HeatCulture pic.twitter.com/WVl1YSCYJi
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 16, 2024
Keeping aside the 24-year-old’s choice of words, he was accurate in claiming that the Frenchman’s “length” caused trouble for the Heat. The 2024 Rookie of the Year recorded only one block in 16:44 minutes of playing time. But his presence in the paint resulted in a low-efficiency shooting performance (46.5% FG) for Erik Spoelstra’s boys.
Fans can expect Wembanyama to have a similarly underwhelming stat line—8 points and 7 rebounds—in the Spurs’ final preseason game due to the minutes restriction that Gregg Popovich has imposed on him
Wembanyama will continue to be on a minutes restriction
The San Antonio Spurs are choosing not to overwork Wembanyama. Gregg Popovich is safeguarding his star player until the regular season commences.
Coach Pop played Wemby during the 9th October clash against the Orlando Magic for 23 minutes. But he sidelined the 20-year-old in the subsequent contest against the Utah Jazz.
Pop said he will probably play Wemby the same in Houston, with “maybe a few more minutes.” Asked why Victor has had such a light load in the preseason, Pop said: “It’s a couple of bumps and bruises and a little bit of precaution. It’s a long season.”
— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) October 16, 2024
Limited playing time for Wembanyama will give the Spurs’ reserve big men like Zach Collins and Charles Bassey a chance to match up against an in-form Alperen Sengun in the next game against the Rockets.
