While the Miami Heat were playing the Spurs in San Antonio on Thursday night, the NBA announced the All-Star reserves. Standout Tyler Herro was not on the list.

All the Heat’s sixth man did in the meantime was score a team-leading 24 points in a 112-95 win over the shorthanded Spurs.

“It is what it is,” Herro said. “I feel like I’ve had an All-Star year to this point.”

The numbers reflect that Herro certainly has a case. The 22-year-old guard is averaging 20.1 points (second on the team behind All Star Jimmy Butler), 4.8 rebounds and four assists per game.

Herro’s numbers are all the more impressive considering he has started 10 of the Heat’s 53 games (though he is on the floor 33 minutes per game).

“We just try to pick them up, pick up where the first unit left off,” Herro said. “We don’t want to have a gap in there. We feel like the second unit of ours has some starters, that we’re a starting unit. We feel like we can come in and play both ends of the floor and help this team win.”

While the voters who picked the starters and the Eastern Conference coaches who picked the reserves may not have deemed Herro an All Star, his teammates consider him one.

“I think he’s been playing at an All-Star level,” Butler said. “He’s definitely been keeping us above water, keeping us afloat with the amount of guys we’ve had in and out of the lineup. He deserves it, but he’s got a long career.”

Raining threes again

While the weather in Texas was frosty, Miami was hot from behind the arc during Thursday night’s game.

After a three-game dip where the Heat made just 41 of 124 threes (33 percent) — and a trip to Toronto where they converted only eight of 30 — Miami returned to form with its long-range shooting. The Heat hit 12 of 30 (40 percent) on their three-point attempts Thursday, slightly better than their season average of 37.5 percent.

Duncan Robinson was in a particularly rough patch, shooting just 17 percent from three-point range in the three previous games, well below his season average of 36.3 percent and career average of 40.8 percent.

But the 27-year-old guard got back to form on Thursday, knocking down four of eight threes in a 17-point effort.

Popovich praise

Erik Spoelstra had kind words to say about Spurs coach Gregg Popovich on Wednesday, and the San Antonio legend returned the favor before Thursday’s game.

“There’s many qualities about him that I think are special,” Popovich said. “Picking one would be very difficult. I think being genuine, I think, is an all-inclusive sort of trait that a lot of people don’t have. Play a role or think they have to act a certain way or believe they have to put on a show for somebody.”

The two championship-winning coaches spent time working together at Team USA’s pre-Olympic camp in Las Vegas in July. Popovich is no longer Team USA’s head coach, replaced by Steve Kerr, but Spoelstra will join the team as an assistant coach.

“Spo is the real deal and just a genuine, good human being who works his [butt] off,” Popovich said. “He connects with people. I enjoyed having him so much with the Olympic program. I’m so happy that he’s going to be a bigger part of it now. He was special with all the advice he gave and he had while we did it last summer. So knowing basketball and being able to teach basketball, that goes without saying. But all those other qualities are what make him really special.”