The Miami Heat will be getting a pair of key contributors back for their matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night. Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo will both be available to play in the contest.
Veteran guard Kyle Lowry has been ruled out of the game against Minnesota due to soreness. It will be just Miami’s second game of the season without Lowry.
Herro has been sidelined with an ankle injury since early November. As a result, he has appeared in just eight total games for Miami so far this season.
In those appearances, Herro averaged 22.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 34.0 minutes per performance. His return should be a big boost for the Heat, especially on the offensive end.
Meanwhile, Adebayo has missed Miami’s last seven games with a hip injury. He has appeared in 16 games on the season so far, and he’s averaging 22.3 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.0 block per game. Miami has missed his rim protection while he’s been on the sideline.
Nearly two months into its current campaign, Miami sits fifth in the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 15-11. The Heat are currently 5.5 games behind the Boston Celtics, who occupy the top spot in the standings with an impressive 20-5 record. The Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic all also have better records than the Heat at this point in time.
But, considering the slew of injury issues that they’ve had to deal with, the Heat have actually had a pretty impressive start to the season. Now that they’re getting a couple of key players back in the rotation, they can finally look to establish some consistency, as long as they can remain healthy.
Miami has six games remaining before the calendar flips from 2023 to 2024. Those contests will come against the Timberwolves, Magic, Atlanta Hawks, 76ers, Golden State Warriors and Utah Jazz.
It’s not necessarily the easiest stretch of games, but the Heat will try to end the year by stringing together some wins in order to build some momentum to bring into 2024. Having both Herro and Adebayo available should certainly help in that regard.