Heat guard Tyler Herro, who has been sidelined since
sustaining a fractured right hand in the Heat’s playoff opener, said late
Monday night that he hopes to return to play at some point in the NBA Finals
against the Denver Nuggets. Asked about a report by TNT’s Chris Haynes that
he’s targeting a return in Game 3 in Miami, which would be June 7, Herro said:
“We’ll see. I don’t know.” The NBA Finals begin Thursday in Denver; Game 2 will
be Sunday, also in Denver. After Herro had surgery on the hand, the Heat said
he would miss a minimum of six weeks. This past Sunday — a day before Game 7 of
the Celtics series — marked the six-week mark.
Herro said “there’s a little soreness in my hand still. But
it’s all just post-surgery scar tissue and stuff like that, that I’m trying to
work through right now. I would love to come back for the Finals, but we’ll see
how my hand feels. It feels good. I’m feeling good.” Within the past week,
Herro was cleared to shoot and dribble with the surgically repaired hand. But
he hasn’t yet participated in a contact practice. “I’m going to be working out
every day, twice, two, three times a day from here until the day I hopefully
come back,” said Herro, who is traveling with the team. “So I’m always going to
continue to work hard and see how my body responds day by day and try to come
back as soon as possible.” Heat guard Gabe Vincent said a return by Herro would
be a boost. “It’s great,” Vincent said. “Obviously, Tyler was a huge part of
our team and he still is whether he’s on the court or off the court. Just being
a voice and being there, so it’s been great having him around. It’s great to
see him put in work and it’s good to see his progress.” What has it been like
for Herro to watch this team get to the Finals to put him in a position to
return?
“After we won in Milwaukee, I had a feeling we would be
going back to the Finals,” he said. “It’s been a hell of a ride for sure. Just
to be on the sideline, I’ve been on every road trip, I’ve been a part of
everything thus far. Just being here with the team has been awesome. Just to
see the guys rally around each other; it’s been great. I’m excited to have an
opportunity to possibly play again this season.”
Asked about needing to deal with the altitude in Denver,
where the Heat hasn’t won since 2016, Herro said: “We play there once a year,
so we don’t really have much experience. We played in Mexico City this year
with a higher altitude than Denver, I believe. But I mean, you can feel it.
It’s an adjustment for sure. But at this point, our team is built for anything.
I can see us trying to steal one or two like we did here [in Boston] in Game 1
and 2.” Herro averaged 20.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 67 games
(all starts) this season. He shot 43.9 percent from the field, 37.8 percent on
three pointers and led the NBA and set a Heat record by shooting 93.4 percent
from the free throw line. He also became the first player to make at least 40
free throws, without a miss, in the fourth quarter this season, since the NBA
began tracking that in 1986.
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