Tyler Herro was unstoppable for the Miami Heat in their Game 4 Eastern Conference finals win over the Boston Celtics, but Paul Pierce needs to see more from the rookie.
Herro dropped 37 points to push the C's to the brink of elimination. The performance sent social media into a frenzy, with many bringing the 20-year-old's "bucket" moniker to the forefront.
The Kentucky product has often referred to himself as a "bucket" due to his shooting ability. Just check out the video below of Herro doing it in 2019.
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While Herro's nickname was undoubtedly accurate in Game 4, Pierce isn't buying it just yet.
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During Friday night's NBA on ESPN broadcast, Pierce made it clear he won't be calling Herro a "bucket" any time soon.
"I can't call nobody a bucket if you ain't averaging at least 20 [over the course of a season]," Pierce said. "If you average 11, I can't give you 'I'm a bucket.' You know what I'm saying? I can't give you 'I'm a bucket' just because you get a couple of buckets on the big stage."
Watch:
Herro averaged 13.5 points during in his rookie season and is averaging 16.3 in the playoffs, so there's plenty of work to be done to reach Pierce's "bucket" standard.
But judging by what he's shown in the conference finals, Herro will get there soon enough. Celtics fans will hope that time doesn't come in Game 6 or 7 of their series, however, as they'll need to prevent another Herro outburst to have any shot of making a comeback.
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Tip-off for Celtics-Heat Game 6 is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.