Darius Garland didn't even need to play to get last laugh on Tyler Herro

Darius Garland is among the biggest winners to emerge from the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Game 3 victory over the Miami Heat on Saturday afternoon. And he didn’t even play.

He can thank Tyler Herro. And the Cavs offense. And their defense.

The two All-Star guards have traded barbs in recent days. Garland fired the first shot, by acknowledging Cleveland’s approach in Game 2 came down to targeting Miami’s “weak defenders,” a one-person list headlined by Herro alone, at least within that moment. The Heat’s 25-year-old responded with a jab of his own, claiming that Garland “don’t play any defense.”

First and foremost, you have to love the NBA playoffs. More importantly, the stage was set in Game 3 for Herro to deliver the ultimate rebuke. Garland ended up being ruled out with a sprained left big toe, laying the groundwork for a ton of speculative jokes, and the opportunity for Herro to take a victory lap with his play.

So much for that.

The Cavs targeted Herro...again

Cleveland stuck with its strategy from Game 2, and from Game 1, by going after Herro when the opportunity presented itself. 

It was not even a matter of attacking him on-ball, though they certainly did. Miami does a good job insulating him from the toughest assignments, but the Cavs continue to screen him away from the rock, go after him in semi-transition (shout-out, Ty Jerome), and of course, put him in pick-and-rolls, oftentimes with Max Strus as the initiator.

The results were horrific…for the Heat. They had a 131 defensive rating during Herro’s minutes. That is worse than bad. Granted, it wasn’t even the worst on-floor mark for the Heat. Cleveland paraded into the paint basically all game. 

Still, this is an extension of the entire series. Through three games, Miami is letting up 133.6 points per 100 possessions during Herro’s minutes. That is BIG YIKES. It also doesn’t tell the whole story.

Herro’s life is getting worse when involved in direct actions. The Heat have limited his exposure to Donovan Mitchell, ensured he doesn’t spend too much time switching onto Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley, and figured out ways to keep him on stationary shooters or predominantly off-ball players. Even so, he has faced plenty of reps against Garland himself, in addition to Jerome. And the Cavs have feasted.

When Herro registers as a partial defender on Garland, Cleveland is averaging 1.39 points per possession. And when he’s guarding Jerome, the Cavs are putting up a mind-melting 1.85 points per possession.

Herro's offense was also a problem in Game 3

Coming off an awesome Game 2 in which he dropped 33 points on 14-of-24 shooting, Herro felt the full wrath of the Cavs’ defense in Game 3.

Every aspect of Cleveland’s attack got the better of him. They put length and physicality on him when he had the ball, and also took great strides to ensure he never received it. 

The pressure Cleveland put on Herro when he did have the ball reached a series high on Saturday. His looks got tougher. Some of the angles were seemingly impossible.

Credit goes to the entire Cavs team. But Sam Merrill, Isaac Okoro and De'Andre Hunter, in particular, have all done a spectacular job when getting the call to check Herro.

Miami as a team is mustering 0.74 points per possession when one of those three is guarding him. Herro, specifically, is shooting a combined 2-of-7 against the trio (28.5 percent), and has drawn just one shooting foul.

Grab your popcorn for Game 4

Because Herro apparently has no qualms about poking an already agitated bear, he called his shot during Saturday's postgame presser:

Professional basketball players have aspirational levels of belief in themselves, and their teammates. It's part of why they are able to do this for a living.

Sometimes, though, it's better to let your play do the talking. Then again, Herro's performance against the Cavs in Game 3 said plenty—about him, about this matchup, and most critically, about the menacing viability of Cleveland itself.

Dan Favale is a Senior NBA Contributor for FanSided and National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.