BBNBA: Tyler Herro's near triple-double lands Heat in playoffs; Fox & Kings fall to Pelicans
The relatively new NBA phenomenon known as the play-in games is a particularly unique purgatory in American sports. It’s not the regular season. It’s not the playoffs. It is something in between. In fact, it is such a newfound territory that NBA statisticians don’t know what to do with it.
Really.
Stats garnered in these play-in games do not count toward the player’s regular season or playoff totals. They are sort of just numerical enigmas floating around in NBA space. The games clearly happened, and yet, they didn’t.
Friday marked the final set of play-in games to determine the 8-seed in each conference’s playoffs. In the East, the Miami Heat took on the Chicago Bulls, and in the West, the New Orleans Pelicans hosted the Sacramento Kings. Both game featured a team with multiple former Kentucky players, yet only one pulled out the win.
Tyler Herro nearly pours in triple-double in Heat win
No Jimmy Butler, no problem. The Miami Heat’s star player went down in the team’s first playoff game with a knee injury that will keep him out multiple weeks.
In his absence, former Kentucky bucket, Tyler Herro stepped up. Herro finished with a team-high 24 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists. Had it been a competitive game and he not sat out during the last half of the fourth quarter, Herro assuredly would have secured one final assist for a triple-double, but the Heat got out big early and maintained an insurmountable lead through most of the game. In the end, they won 112-91, but it wasn’t even that close.
For one of his nine assists, Herro channeled his inner Big Z, hitting a behind-the-back pass to a 3-point shooter out on the wing who drained it.
As for Bam Adebayo, he had a solid game as well. Not quite triple-doule territory, but solid nonetheless in a game where he wasn’t really needed. The former Kentucky big man and future Olympian scored his jersey number, finishing with 13 points to go along with four rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.
On the losing side of the scoreboard, Billy Donovan’s season is now over. It has been less than a week since Kentucky hired Mark Pope. During the hiring search, reports leaked out saying Donovan was a top-three candidate for the job, but Billy D remained focused on the Bulls’ futile chances to make the playoffs and Mitch Barnhart decided he couldn’t wait.
For what it is worth, since then, BYU hired Kevin Young as their new head coach, the associate head coach for the Phoenix Suns, a team that has at least another week or two of basketball yet to play. Young clearly didn’t seem to mind engaging with Brigham Young prior to their season ending, which means Donovan chose not to engage with Kentucky. That probably tells you all that you need to know.
Kings fall to Pelicans despite Fox’s 35 points
Similar to Jimmy Butler for the Heat, Pelican’s star, Zion Williamson suffered an injury in the first play-in game and sat out on Friday against the Kings. Weird how injuries seem to count in these play-in games even if the stats don’t.
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Unfortunately for the Kings, Malik Monk also sat out with a knee injury and it turns out they could have really used his scoring off the bench. Despite De’Aaron Fox scoring 35 points, the Sacramento Kings could not light the beam on Friday as the Pels kept them at arm’s length all game long before closing it out 105-98. It was a chippy game with the Pels deploying multiple shoves and intimidation tactics happening to throw Fox off his game.
Fox added seven boards, five assists, and three steals on the night, but the support players could not find a rhythm. One such role player, Trey Lyles, put up a goose egg in the scoring column in his 13 minutes on the floor.
The Kings were plagued by injuries all season, so here’s to hoping they remain healthy all of next year. They are too much fun of a team (plus they roster three former ‘Cats) for them not to make a much-deserved playoff run soon. They hope they can keep Monk next, but the payroll will be tight and Monk is a free agent. For now, the Kings enter the lottery and vie to get the right to draft Rob Dillingham or Reed Sheppard.
BBNBA Statistics for 4/19/2024
| Player | Score | PTS | FG (3PT) | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | P/M | MIN |
| De’Aaron Fox (SAC) | 98-105 L vs. NOP | 35 | 12-29 (4-16) | 7 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 5 | -3 | 42 |
| Tyler Herro (MIA) | 112-91 W vs. CHI | 24 | 4-9 (4-9) | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 5 | +32 | 33 |
| Bam Adebayo (MIA) | 112-91 W vs. CHI | 13 | 5-8 (1-2) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +9 | 32 |
| Trey Lyles (SAC) | 98-105 L vs. NOP | 0 | 0-1 (0-0) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -7 | 13 |
| Malik Monk (SAC) | 98-105 L vs. NOP | DNP-Knee |
Today in the NBA Playoffs
The NBA Playoffs bracket is set.
Round 1
Game 1 – Series tied 0-0
1:00 (ESPN): [5] Magic @ [4] Cavaliers
Game 1 – Series tied 0-0
3:30 (ESPN): [6] Suns (Booker) @ [3] Timberwolves (Towns)
Game 1 – Series tied 0-0
6:00 (ESPN): [7] 76ers (Maxey) @ [2] Knicks (Randle: out)
Game 1 – Series tied 0-0
8:30 (ABC): [7] Lakers (Davis, Vanderbilt: Out) @ [2] Nuggets (Murray)
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