6:11pm: Herro is available tonight, according to Erik Spoelstra, but the coach wouldn’t commit to playing him, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets.
“It’s all hands on deck,” Spoelstra said. “We’re going with our normal rotation, and then we’ll see how things play out.”
11:34am: The Heat have changed Tyler Herro‘s status to questionable for tonight’s Game 5 of the NBA Finals (Twitter link), prompting speculation that he might be ready to return from hand surgery.
Herro is expected to be in uniform and will attempt to play, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Team officials are hoping that he doesn’t suffer a setback before tip-off and that he can manage the pain in his right hand, Woj adds.
The shooting guard has been sidelined since April 16 when he broke two fingers in the opener of Miami’s first-round series with Milwaukee. He had surgery five days later and was projected to miss at least six weeks.
Herro was originally listed as out for Game 5, but he was able to participate in another full-contact practice session on Sunday. His performance apparently convinced team officials that he’s ready to attempt a comeback.
The Heat need a boost in three-point shooting from their backcourt after Gabe Vincent and Max Strus misfired badly in Game 3 and 4. They combined to shoot 4-of-27 from the field in the two losses at Miami while scoring a total of 12 points.
Just what you want when facing elimination, a somewhat healthy player who hasn’t played a real game for a month.
I mean, he does raise their theoretical ceiling. And facing elimination to a more talented team, beggars can’t be choosers. If he’s healthy enough to give it a go, at least give him a few minutes on the floor to see if can contribute something. If he doesn’t you can always bench him again.
Dude hasn’t even played one full playoff game this year, by the time he finds his groove back they’ll be on their way to Cancun.
They’ll be on their way to Cancun in about 9 and half hours either way.
If he finally plays, it’s unlikely that he contributes in any meaningful way. The odds of getting injured again are much higher.
I question his ability ……. Nuggets going to abuse him on D. Please play him.
Wow, Tyler Herro is playing.
How exciting.
All of the people that said I was dumb for wanting to trade for Aaron Gordon a couple of years ago, when he was available, what are you thonking now that the guy you didnt want to give up for him didnt even play, while Gordon is essentially finals MVP…
You’d think after all this time of being proven right on players, I would get some benefit of the doubt, but it is what it is…
Michael Malone came to play in this series while Spo decided to treat it like a preseason. It may not have mattered b/c every time the Heat had the lineup advantage on the floor, Malone instantly called timeout and changed it, and then it came down to make or miss, like I said it would before the series.
I called Calvin Booth possible executive of the year when he drafted Braun and Watson and brought a bunch of defenders/playmakers into summer league, and got KCP and signed Bruce Brown, and this is pretty much as evident as it gets that he should win that award
Heat also once again got injured at the wrong time
Congrats to the Denver Nuggets. Clearly the better team.
Jimmy’s HGH cough I mean coffee supply for the team ran out I guess
Herro never played