Tyler Herro’s status recently became a bit clearer, as the Miami Heat guard reportedly received a platelet-rich plasma injection to treat his right foot injury. Consequently, the team will have to play without him for a little while longer.
On Sunday, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the hope is that the young star can make a return to the court before the end of the regular season.
Erik Spoelstra says the hope is Tyler Herro will still return before the end of the regular season: "That’s the hope. He’s been making progress and we’ll treat him day to day, keep on making progress. And again, his body will let us know.”
— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) March 17, 2024
Herro is set to finish with a career-low in games played this season, having appeared in just 36 contests so far. Excluding this season, the fewest number of games he has suited up for was in the 2020-21 season when he played in 54 games.
While the 24-year-old has proven to be an essential piece in Miami’s hopes of contending for a title, he also may be starting to earn a reputation as being too fragile. He played in a career-best 67 contests last season but made just one appearance in the 2023 playoffs after sustaining an injury in the Heat’s series opener against the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.
Still, the former Sixth Man of the Year has had a considerable impact on winning for Miami, helping the team win 163 of the 278 games he has played in during his regular season career.
It remains to be seen if the Heat can get Herro back before the postseason. With the squad still stuck in the play-in picture at the moment, it might need one of its best scorers back on the court to have a better chance of securing a higher seed.
As a consolation for the Heat, they demonstrated last year that having to go through the play-in tournament isn’t necessarily the end of the world. However, it might be better for the team to avoid a similar scenario in the coming postseason because a loss or two could eliminate the squad earlier than anticipated.
Furthermore, a top-six seed is still achievable, given that Miami is only a game behind the Indiana Pacers, who are currently the Eastern Conference’s sixth-place squad. Having one of the easiest remaining schedules in the NBA should also provide Spoelstra and the Heat with opportunities to rise in the standings in the home stretch of the regular season.
