With the Miami Heat three victories away from winning the 2023 NBA Finals, fourth-year guard Tyler Herro is working hard to return from injury before it’s too late.
The latest update on Herro seems like a positive one, as he’s set to participate in a full-contact workout on Tuesday. However, he still hasn’t been medically cleared for game action, which is an important detail to monitor.
Tyler Herro will do a full-contact workout later today. He has not been cleared yet, Spo says.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) June 6, 2023
Herro is aware of the uniqueness of his situation. He’s missed virtually all of the 2023 NBA Playoffs and now has a chance to return just in time to help the Heat raise a banner, which has to be exciting for him. But he also understands that rhythm can be a fragile thing, and he doesn’t want his return to impact Miami’s flow.
Reporting from #NBAFinals: I spoke with Tyler Herro ahead his Game 2 pregame routine and he told me 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 shared his…
— Ros Gold-Onwude (@ROSGO21) June 5, 2023
If Herro can return and give the Heat a few quality minutes per night, that would likely be seen as a win for all involved parties. The big questions are whether he’ll be close enough to 100 percent to be effective and able to hold his own defensively in a Heat rotation that doesn’t have many defensive weak spots.
In the regular season, the 23-year-old averaged 20.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game while shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from beyond the arc. All 67 of his appearances during the regular season were starts, but one has to imagine that he’d come off the bench if he were to return in these NBA Finals.
Game 3 between the Heat and Denver Nuggets is set for Wednesday. Miami has itself sitting in a good spot after winning Game 2 on the road.
The series is tied at one game apiece, but the Heat are seemingly in the driver’s seat after stealing home-court advantage away from the Nuggets. Denver will need to win a game in Miami if it wants to win the series.
Time will tell if Herro can return to action before the series ends. Without a doubt, it would mean the world to him to be able to say that he contributed during the 2023 NBA Finals, especially if Miami ends up winning it all.
