NBA Finals: Heat G Tyler Herro available to play Game 5, eight weeks after hand surgery
Tyler Herro is back.
Down 3-1 in the NBA Finals, the Miami Heat upgraded the guard to questionable ahead of Game 5 against the Denver Nuggets on Monday. Later, head coach Erik Spoelstra said he will be available for the game.
Miami is hoping that there are no setbacks in his ability to manage the discomfort in his hand.
It's been eight weeks since the 23-year-old underwent surgery on his broken right hand to repair the third and fourth metacarpals. He sustained the injury on April 16 during Game 1 of the Heat's first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks while diving for a loose ball. He was in clear pain but still made a 3-pointer before running to the locker room.
Expected to miss a minimum of six weeks after the procedure, it was assumed that his season was over — unless the Heat made an incredible run.
Then, the No. 8 seed went on to defeat the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals and outlast the Boston Celtics in the conference finals. Through it all, Herro's potential comeback was an ever-present question.
For Herro's return, the buzz is warranted. Behind Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, he's the Heat's next best scorer. He averaged 20.1 points per game, going 43.9% from the field before the injury.
That said, it's unclear how recovered the 2022 Sixth Man of the Year truly is. Ahead of the Heat's Game 2 win, Herro told ESPN's Ros Gold-Onwude he "experiences both soreness and swelling in the right hand after shooting and he can feel the soreness when he's making a 'follow through' shooting motion."
He also expressed a "consideration," of not wanting to disrupt the rhythm of the team, Gold-Onwude said.
But facing elimination and the inevitable two-man duo of Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray, the Heat had to do something to keep their championship pursuit alive. Miami made the move that seemed increasingly unlikely, and its efficacy will be determined Monday night at Ball Arena.
