Tyler Herro admitted Miami’s first-round exit was both “embarrassing” and “humbling” after the Heat were swept by the Cavaliers following a 138-83 defeat at home Monday night.
The 55-point loss marked the fourth-largest in NBA playoff history and ended Miami’s postseason in historic fashion, as Cleveland won the series by a combined 122 points — the largest margin ever in a four-game sweep.
“Really no excuses for it,” Herro said when asked if he could have imagined such lopsided back-to-back losses. “It’s embarrassing, you know, and definitely humbling.”
After a strong first half in Game 2 where the Heat narrowed a 20-point deficit to a single-possession game, Herro said the team returned to Miami expecting a turnaround.
“None of us expected this,” he said. “Especially leaving Cleveland after Game 2… obviously it didn’t work out in our favor.”
Herro finished the night with 15 points on 6-of-17 shooting, as Miami struggled again offensively, shooting just 36% from the field and 20.4% from deep.
The Cavaliers, meanwhile, jumped out to a 43-14 lead late in the first quarter and never looked back, with Donovan Mitchell scoring 22 points and five other Cleveland players reaching double figures.
As the Heat’s lead guard and offensive initiator, Herro acknowledged that his performance fell short in the most critical moments.
“Obviously, the last two games — it’s very tough on me to play like that as the leader of the team,” he said. “That’s obviously not acceptable.”
Cleveland’s 72-33 halftime lead was the third-largest in playoff history, while Miami’s 83 points marked its lowest postseason output since 2014.
Despite a promising finish to the regular season and two convincing play-in victories, Herro said Miami never found the consistency required for a deep run.
“It’s a roller coaster,” he said. “We thought we were finding traction… and then go back downhill. No real consistency in our play.”
The Cavaliers now advance to face the winner of Bucks-Pacers in the second round, while the Heat enter an offseason filled with questions and introspection.
“We’ll go back to the drawing board,” Herro said. “We’ve got a good opportunity to come back next season and try to figure this out.”
