All-Stars Darius Garland and Tyler Herro have entered into a battle on the court and now a war of words off it during the first-round series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat.

After the Cavs' 121-112 Game 2 victory on Wednesday, Garland was brutally honest about his team's offensive game plan to get out to a 2-0 lead.

"Pick on Tyler Herro," said Garland, who is averaging 24.0 points on 52% shooting in the two games. "Take care of the ball, don't play in tight spaces and pick on their weak defenders. Go at them."

Herro, who scored 33 points in the Game 2 loss, responded on Friday.

"To go to the media to talk about the game plan and this and that says a lot about him. I'm not worried about Darius Garland," Herro said. "Somebody that doesn't play defense shouldn't be talking, either. He don't play any defense and we'll see that [in Game 3 on Saturday]. He don't play no D."

The assessment made by Garland, who is questionable for Saturday's game with a sprained left big toe, was blunt but perhaps unnecessary. The Cavs' strategy has been blatantly obvious as they have relentlessly attacked Herro in pick-and-rolls and isolations.

According to GeniusIQ, Herro has defended 50 on-ball screens as the screener defender in the two games. In Game 2, Herro defended 32 on-ball screens as the screener defender, the second guard to defend more than 30 on-ball screens as the screener defender in a playoff game since player tracking began in 2013-14, joining Stephen Curry, who has done it multiple times..

The Cavs are doing it so often because it's working. They are 18-of-31 shooting (58%) with Herro as the primary defender according to ESPN Research tracking. The Cavs were the No. 1 offensive team in the NBA this season, averaging 121 points per 100 possessions. So far against the Heat, the Cavs are averaging 133 points per 100 possessions.

The series has largely centered on guard play with Donovan Mitchell scoring 30 points in both Games 1 and 2 and Davion Mitchell leading a Heat comeback attempt in Game 2 with 14 fourth-quarter points.

But Herro also downplayed that Garland's comments would affect him.

"I have enough fuel in me, in this locker room, around the organization, in the building," Herro said. "I don't need any fuel from that guy over there."

Heat captain Bam Adebayo, however, said Garland's comments made an impact in the Heat's locker room.

"Obviously, he said what he said. We all take that personally," Adebayo said. "Not only just Tyler, we all take that personally."