Darius Garland Shades Tyler Herro, Says Cavs' Game Plan Is to Pick on 'Weak Defenders'

Darius Garland took a shot at Tyler Herro after the Cleveland Cavaliers downed the Miami Heat 121-112 on Wednesday.

The Cavs' point guard said his team's offensive game plan is to target "weak defenders," suggesting Herro is one of those "weak defenders."

"Pick on Tyler Herro and take care of the ball," Garland told reporters. "Don't play in tight spaces and pick on their weak defenders."

Before Wednesday's matchup, Herro appeared to call the Cavs' defense out, suggesting he and Miami knew what to expect heading into Game 2.

“I’ve been getting guarded like this all season,” Herro said on Tuesday, per the Miami Herald's Anthony Chiang. “We’ve figured it out already. So we’ll be ready to go [Wednesday].”

Herro also said on Tuesday that he was expecting to get targeted on the defensive end.

“They were calling me up, it’s obviously something we’ve seen before,” Herro said. “I think what’s different is they call me up and then it’s not a one-on-one attack. It’s get the switch and then call up the pick and roll with the five, and then I had to fight over screens.

“So that’s kind of wearing me down — expending energy on defense and then trying to break open on offense. So just finding different ways to be more efficient so I’m not expending so much energy on both ends. And then I can obviously be better on the ball, which I will be [in Game 2].”

The Heat were much better on Wednesday than they were in Game 1, but still failed to disrupt Cleveland's tremendous offense. The Cavaliers shot 48.9 percent from deep and turned the ball over just eight times. That followed a Game 1 in which Cleveland had just seven turnovers. Miami forced 13.7 turnovers per game during the regular season.

While Herro did little to contain Miami on defense, he did his part on the offensive end with 33 points. Still, it was far from enough to even the series at one game apiece.

Whether Herro will respond with a big defensive outing following Garland's words remains to be seen.