Orlando (United States) (AFP)

"I need a hero", Bonnie Tyler's hit will probably become the anthem of the Heat: her formidable rookie, Tyler Herro, barely 20, disgusted Boston (112-109) with his 37 points to approach Miami at a NBA Finals victory.

The resources of the team coached by Erik Spoelstra and shaped by President Pat Riley, whose legend is written as much in this function as in that of winning coach that he was for the Lakers and then for the Heat, are immense.

When it's not Captain Jimmy Butler, gunner Goran Dragic or the sturdy Bam Adebayo, it's Herro, a kid as uninhibited as he is talented, who comes to play the bosses, with a place and immense confidence granted by his elders .

An action symbolized this idea of ​​the whole-collective, where the leader knows how to step aside in front of the one who has the keys, when Butler, however in a good position and that everyone was waiting for the shooting, anticipated, hoped for, saw and validated the race to the basket of his young teammate by offering him the ball for an almost lethal basket (107-98).

Afterward, Herro returned the courtesy: "Everything I do, I do more for Jimmy. He's a big brother to me. From day one, he's been helping me. He's never been. in the NBA Finals, and I want to go there for him. "

- "As wide as the ocean" -

This is how this Miami team works, which could in the event of a 4th success on Friday return to the championship final, six years after the last.

At the time it was a Big3 made up of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, who had failed to win a third coronation in a row, beaten by San Antonio.

This Heat version 2020 does not have any big star - even if Butler has the stature -, but it has collective virtues, an altruism, which commands respect.

And if the light is on Herro at the end of this N.4 match, it could next time shed light on another, from Jay Crawder to Andre Iguodala, already used to being the man in the shadows who changes the finals in recent years seasons with Golden State.

However, it is still premature to project the Heat in a quest for a fourth title, especially as the Celtics, led by 12 points in the 3rd quarter, narrowly failed to reverse the situation and therefore equalize at 2 -2.

But as their coach Brad Stevens agreed after the game, "Herro made the difference, he was awfully strong. For him the circle was as wide as the ocean."

- Worthy of "Magic" -

This is indeed the impression left by his performance, an exceptional score that saw him return 14 of his 21 shots (including 5/10 at three points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) and light up the game with a impressive simplicity and class at this point, especially for a first.

His passing of arms in the second half with Jayson Tatum gives a little more value to the whole.

Because the young star of the Cs, who missed his first seven shots in the first two quarters, then had a champion's reaction, scoring 28 points (9 rebounds).

And more than once a shot behind one's arc has responded to the other's.

The Floridians, whose zone defense was again dissuasive, were also able to count on the contributions of Adebayo (20 pts, 12 rebounds, 4 assists) and Butler (24 pts, 9 rebounds, 3 assists), author of the throws Franks who maintained the gap in the scoring in the final seconds.

The Celtics also paid too many losses of balls (19 against 8 in front) and perhaps lacked a second wind behind Tatum, even if Jaylen Brown (21 pts) and Kemba Walker (20 pts) were not unworthy .

Only against them, Herro was "Magic", worthy of his glorious elder Lakers, the only one to have done better than him in the play-offs at 20, with 42 points scored in the 1980 finals against Philadelphia.

At the time, Pat Riley was already there.

© 2020 AFP