MIAMI — Tyler Herro has lost his chance to play in the 2023 NBA Finals. Herro, the sixth NBA Man of the Year for 2022 and a scorer averaging 20.1 points per game, is still not cleared to return after breaking his hand on April 16. The Miami Heat ruled him out for Game 4 of the finals against the Denver Nuggets on Friday, a series that leaves the Heat 2-1 behind.
Herro underwent surgery a few days after the injury to repair the injury and was cleared to play basketball again during the Eastern Conference Finals. Herro and the team have openly speculated that a return to the pitch during the finals is a possibility.
“You have to go through stages,” said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. “First it was just shooting, then movement, then contact against coaches and then the next level of contact in practice. He wasn’t cleared for a game and he’s still not cleared.”
As week two of the finals began, almost every aspect of it was covered – from the anticipation of Herro’s return to the difficulty of getting him back into a rotation mid-finals.
Herro was Miami’s starting No. 2 guard all season. He’s best with the ball and can create his own shot. He’s not a strong defender and the Heat are already struggling to hold off the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. At the same time, just activating Herro to wear the uniform in case something happens to one of the rotation players Miami reached the finals with is a sensible idea.
For example, late in Game 3, Kyle Lowry, the current Miami backup point guard, twisted his ankle and had a limp. Spoelstra said Lowry is doing well and trained without any problems on Wednesday morning, but if Lowry’s injury was a little worse then there would be an opportunity to reinstate Herro in Lowry’s role.
The Heat can’t pull this off with Herro on the bench in glorious pajamas and a bucket hat.
“His mood is great because he can train,” said Spoelstra. “Where he was five weeks ago, he wasn’t able to shoot and do the things he wanted to do. But he is a competitor. He wants to be out there. He was really excited at the start of that playoff run for the opportunity we had with this team. But sometimes there are things that you cannot control.”
Herro’s injury came in the second half of the Heat’s first-round playoff series against Milwaukee. The Heat try to be the first number 8 to win a final. When their postseason started, they were in play-in and Herro started alongside Gabe Vincent.
Max Strus was Miami’s starter in Herro’s place.
“He’s ticked all the boxes so far but isn’t on the next step yet to qualify for an NBA Finals game,” Spoelstra said. “But he’s doing whatever he needs to do to take those next steps.”
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(Photo: Kyle Terada / USA Today)