Heat’s Tyler Herro cleared to play both nights of back-to-back amid return from foot tendinitis; Rozier out again
MIAMI — All hands on deck for the Miami Heat apparently means all feet, as well.
So even with Tyler Herro having returned Friday from a 20-game absence as he continues to deal with medial tendinitis in his right foot, he was cleared to play in Wednesday night’s game against the Dallas Mavericks at Kaseya Center.
That clearance came after Herro played 47:39 in Tuesday night’s 117-111 double-overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena, including all but ten seconds of the fourth quarter and two overtimes combined.
Following the victory, Herro revealed that participation in the Heat’s final back-to-back set initially had been frowned upon.
“I know they didn’t want me to play back-to-backs,” he said of the Mavericks game, “but I’m open to it. So I just got to see how I feel.”
Coach Erik Spoelstra joked that he had to avoid the team’s training and medical staffs after pushing Herro to Tuesday’s limit.
“He was totally exhausted by that second overtime,” Spoelstra said. “He’s been cleared for everything. There hasn’t been a minutes restriction.
“But I’m going to hide and duck away from the training staff, because we’re at this point where it’s by any means necessary.”
The Heat listed the entire roster available for Wednesday night’s critical playoff-race matchup against Dallas except for Josh Richardson (season-ending shoulder surgery), Duncan Robinson (out due to recurring back problems) and Terry Rozier (out with the neck spasms that limited him in Sunday night’s loss to the Indiana Pacers and then kept him out Tuesday in Atlanta).
Rozier’s absence was finalized two hours prior to Thursday’s tipoff.
Beyond the Mavericks game, the Heat close out their regular-season schedule with Friday and Sunday home games against the lottery-bound Toronto Raptors.
A look back
With Wednesday night’s game ending a run of five games in seven nights for the Heat — the maximum that can be scheduled in the NBA over such a stretch — it proved particularly grueling with the Heat forced to go to double-overtime Tuesday.
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“It was just a tremendous effort to have to overcome a lot of different things, down four, down six in the overtimes,” Spoelstra said, possibly to face the Hawks again in the play-in round. “Our guys were exhausted. But sometimes that’s what it is. You just have to find a way to win and our defense down the stretch was as good as it can be.”
Hawks guard Dejointe Murray praised the Heat’s resilience.
“The second half I think we just came out ready to play and it worked in our favor as far as having control of the game,” Murray said of Atlanta overcoming what had been a 15-point Hawks deficit. “And you know, great team, great coach over there, and they just ended up executing and getting the win.”
New role
In addition to settling in as the Heat’s starting power forward, second-year big man Nikola Jovic continues to get minutes at center behind Bam Adebayo, instead of Kevin Love taking those assignments.
Love has been working his way back after missing 16 games with a bruised right heel, returning from that ailment last week.
“I’m there kind of plugging those minutes for Kevin Love,” Jovic said. “I think he’s still coming back from injury and I don’t think he’s still at 100 percent, and I feel like I can sort of bring what he brings to the table. I can space the floor for Jimmy (Butler) and Tyler, but also be a great screener.”
Scholarship time
At halftime of Friday night’s game against the Raptors, the Heat will announce their scholarship winners, with $25,000 in scholarship funds awarded to high school seniors from Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.
The program awards three $5,000 Heat Scholarships; one $5,000 Dr. Jack Ramsay Scholarship, in honor of the late Heat television analyst; and one $5,000 Alec Kessler Student-Athlete Scholarship, in honor of the late Heat center who went on to a medical career.
In their 28th year, the Heat Scholarships are awarded based on excellent academic performance, outstanding community service, and unmet financial need.
