BOSTON – As Heat President Pat Riley spoke at the end of last season of the need to be available, Tyler Herro took it to heart.
At the time, Riley wasn’t even talking about Herro, but rather of another year of seeming regular-season indifference from Jimmy Butler and the sometimes schedule of the since-dealt disgruntled forward
Still, that’s what made last week’s victory over the Atlanta Hawks so meaningful for Herro. Not because of it being part of the five-game winning streak the Heat carried into Wednesday night’s game against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden, or that Herro scored 36, but rather because it was his 70th appearance of the season, the first time the 2019 first-round pick out of Kentucky had played that many games.
“It feels really good, actually, really good, just having that,” Herro said by his locker earlier during the three-game trip that began with victories over the Philadelphia 76ers and Washington Wizards. “For my first time in my career, I’ve played 70 games, and it’s been a goal of mine my entire career to play as many games as possible.”
Like Butler when Riley offered his comments last spring, Herro is headed into an extension window this offseason. But this, Herro said, was simply about wanting to be present, particularly after being limited to 42 games last season by ankle and foot issues.
“I’ve never wanted to sit out,” he said, already at a career high in minutes. “So to finally be healthy enough, knock on wood, to be out there for a majority of these games, is meaningful to me.”
Still with one more goal this season in that regard.
“I’ve missed only three games this season,” he said. “My goal was to only miss four. So I’m there, hopefully.
“Got a couple more to go, but I’ve just got to keep playing, getting treatment and staying healthy and I want to play as many games as possible. I’ve never been a guy that wants to sit out.”
Herro’s only three absences all resulted in losses. He missed the Jan. 21 home loss to the Portland Trail Blazers due to groin tightness. He missed the Feb. 10 home loss to the Celtics with the stomach virus that seemingly later sidelined just about everyone else in the locker room. And he missed the March 5 road loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers with a severe cold. In each case, he was with the team on game day, only late decisions keeping him out.
Each time he was back the next game.
Countless other times he surfaced on the Heat report and played on.
But even while remaining present, even while being named an All-Star for the first time, even while entering Wednesday amid one of the hottest stretches of his career, there still is the sting of for the first failing to be part of a winning team on the NBA level.
“I always win,” he said. “I’ve never been on a losing team, here, college, high school.
“Well, my AAU team, my 17-under, my last year, we were pretty bad, we were bad.”
That has left him present for more losses this season than at any level.
“It’s tough,” he said of this uneven ride to an eventual play-in fate for the third consecutive season. “Some better days have been better than others.”
