"Is he grabbing straight beef?" - Tyler Herro's savage response to Darius Garland's callout has NBA fans buzzing
After jumping out to a 2-0 series lead over the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland shed light on one of the team's offensive strategies throughout the series: target Tyler Herro.
While the young guard has impressed offensively, averaging 27.0 points on 50.0% shooting throughout the first two games, he's struggled defensively. After Garland said that the Cavs will need to continue to target him on defense, Herro wasted no time issuing a clapback.
Following Miami's Friday morning practice ahead of Game 3 on Saturday, Herro stated that somebody who doesn't play defense like Garland shouldn't be talking trash about his defensive abilities.
"At the end of the day, it's competitive, but somebody who doesn't play defense shouldn't be talking either," Herro said. "He don't play any defense. We'll see that tomorrow."
The NBA community quickly weighed in on the comments leading up to Game 3, where Herro and the Heat will look to avoid a potential situation where Cleveland can close out the series during Game 4.
"Is he grabbing straight beef," one fan posted.
"Tyler Herro wants all the smoke," another fan commented.
"Fried him," a fan wrote.
Others shared their thoughts as well:
"Buddy has a handful of meat," one fan posted.
"Tell him," another fan said.
"How are these 2 beefing about defense?," a fan tweeted.
Looking at the odds for Game 3 between Tyler Herro and the Miami Heat and Darius Garland and the Cleveland Cavaliers
While the Miami Heat will have home-court advantage for Games 3 and 4, Heat fans don't seem to feel confident about their chances of winning on Saturday.
At the time of publication, Cleveland is sitting as a pretty comfortable betting favorite on most major sportsbooks. On FanDuel, Cleveland is a -245 favorite, while Miami is a +200 underdog. Meanwhile, over on DraftKings, the Cavaliers are -230 favorites, while Miami is a +190 underdog.
Based on the latest FanDuel lines, it would take a $245 bet on the Cavs to win $100 on top of the original bet. On the other hand, a $100 bet on Miami could win $200 on top of the original bet if the Heat can get the job done.
Following Game 3 on Saturday, the two sides will collide in Game 4 on Monday, with a tentative Game 5 scheduled for Wednesday back in Cleveland.
Considering no team has successfully come back from down 3-0 in a playoff series, Game 3 seems like a must-win for Tyler Herro and the Heat.