Tyler Herro had been waiting a while to turn 50.

The feeling, the 22-year-old Miami Heat guard said, aged well.

“Yeah, I’ve been paying attention to it the last week or so, trying to get to 50,” he said of the Heat reaching that season victory milestone with Saturday night’s 127-109 decision over the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. “So, for me, it’s my first time, obviously. It feels good. Hopefully one day we can get 60 wins and keep going from there.”

For Herro, his first two seasons reduced the chances of reaching 50 wins, with the pandemic limiting the Heat’s regular season to 73 games in his rookie season in 2019-20 and then to 72 last season.

This time, the return to a traditional 82-game schedule had the Heat at 50-28 going into Sunday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena.

It is the Heat’s first 50-win season since the final Big Three run with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh produced a 54-28 record in 2013-14. Since then, the Heat’s highest win total had been 48 in 2015-16.

The Heat’s 40-32 winning percentage last season would have translated into 45.6 wins over an 82-game schedule, with the Heat’s 44-29 winning percentage from Herro’s rookie season into 49.4 wins.

In addition to the NBA returning to an 82-game schedule, there also will be a truer playoff atmosphere than Herro’s first two seasons. In 2020, when the Heat advanced to the NBA Finals, the playoffs were contested in the quarantine bubble setting at Disney World, largely in the void of fans. Last year, when the Heat were swept 4-0 by the Bucks in the first round, arenas were configured for the postseason to distance most fans from the court.

“I’m just looking forward to the atmosphere in all the arenas,” Herro said, with the Heat holding the No. 1 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference and the postseason to open the weekend of April 16-17. “The stands were kind of like different last year. There weren’t really people around the court.

“So I think the atmosphere is the most what I’m looking forward to.”

Chalmers’ end game

The G League season for the Heat’s affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, ended with a 14-21 record with Saturday night’s 128-125 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers’ playoff-bound affiliate.

That also meant the end of Mario Chalmers’ season with Skyforce.

Chalmers, the former Heat championship guard, joined the Heat briefly in late December on an emergency 10-day contract, but did not play. He then agreed to play with the Heat’s G League affiliate for the first time.

Chalmers appeared in 31 games for the Skyforce, averaging 11.3 points, 5.9 assists and 3.1 rebounds, making 24 starts.

Chalmers, who turns 36 in May, went out with a bang, with the Heat 2008 draft acquisition scoring 26 points, his season high, in Saturday’s loss.

With the Skyforce failing to make the playoffs, Heat two-way players Javonte Smart and Mychal Mulder returned to the Heat, although they will be ineligible for the playoff roster.

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