Friday Headlines: Tyler Herro Game-Winner Edition

Herro came up clutch on Thursday night.

Unless you’re an NBA die-hard, the regular season really starts to “ramp up” or “get serious” on Christmas day. It’s a tradition to have basketball on the TV throughout the holiday and for historic as well as young, flashy teams to clash on national television.

For Tyler Herro and the Miami Heat, they helped carry on the drama with a near-buzzer-beating finish in Orlando on Thursday night.

The Heat — led by Herro’s 20 points — mounted a fourth-quarter comeback and capped off the night by their All-Star guard nailing a fadeaway jumper to take an 89-88 lead with .1 remaining on the clock.

Miami (of course) held on to win their second straight game, improving their record to 15-13 on the season. They now sit alone as the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference standings with just over a third of the season already concluded.

The Heat had a rocky start to the season and have been somewhat of a rollercoaster this year. They’ll win a few games and then hit a cold stretch of three or four losses in a row.

Most recently, the Heat have won six of their last nine games but suffered a three-game losing skid during that stretch.

They’re scrappy, well-coached, and have a roster led by veteran players such as Herro and former Kentucky Wildcats star Bam Adebayo — so they’ll likely be in the hunt come spring of 2025.

In the meantime, check out Herro’s game-winner above. Go Cats!

Tweet of the Day

Big night for SGA, too.

Headlines

Herro makes go-ahead jumper with 0.5 seconds left as Heat beat Magic 89-88 – Yahoo Sports

Tyler Herro hit a 19-foot jumper with 0.5 seconds left Thursday night to give the Miami Heat an 89-88 win over the Orlando Magic.

Gilgeous-Alexander ties career high with 45 points in OKC win – ESPN

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tied his career high with 45 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 120-114 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night.

Pope Doesn’t Expect Empty Emotion From Cats – Vaught’s Views

Need to rebound next week.

Netflix smashes records with NFL on Christmas Day – ESPN

No surprise here.

Long Time UK Fan isn’t Giving Up on Cats – Vaught’s Views

Many reasons to be optimistic.

Cowboys shut down CeeDee Lamb for rest of season – ESPN

Tough day for fantasy managers.

Toledo pulls off 6OT win in the GameAbove Sports Bowl – KSR

Love bowl season.

Heat not trading All-Star Jimmy Butler, Pat Riley says – ESPN

They’d be foolish if they did.

Jim Larranaga to step down at Miami following 4-8 start – KSR

This was… odd.

Seattle keeps playoff hopes alive with win over Bears – CBS Sports

Awful game.