NBA Finals: Tyler Herro’s absence is glaring for Heat, but his return feels more unlikely as series goes on

MIAMI — It’s tantalizing, tempting to envision how Tyler Herro would make so many things better for the Miami Heat if he were cleared to play following breaking his right hand at the start of the playoffs.

It’s an everyday question, an everyday struggle for the Heat faithful. And Erik Spoelstra wishes he had a different answer, especially as his team enters dire straits and the possibility of a 3-1 deficit to the Denver Nuggets.

But the answer is the answer, and Herro is still listed as out for Game 4 on Friday night.

“He has checked every box so far, but he is not at that next step yet to clear for an NBA Finals game,” Spoelstra said. “But he is doing everything he needs to do to take these next steps.

“His spirits are great because he is able to work out. Where he was five weeks ago, he wasn’t able to shoot and do things that he wanted to do.”

Herro can’t help the Heat stop the devastating two-man duo of Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray, nor would he be counted on to do much of the gritty work the Heat missed in Game 3.

But he signed an extension worth $30 million annually for a reason, and that’s because he can be explosive offensively. Honestly, the Heat have only missed him so much on that end. They’ve rediscovered Duncan Robinson as a floor-spreader after he spent the entire season getting inconsistent minutes, while Gabe Vincent and Max Strus have taken up the extra real estate, raising their games in this run to the Finals.

But Herro isn’t an undrafted try-hard player, with all due respect to his teammates. With the way the Nuggets have defended Jimmy Butler, staying home on the shooters and not allowing him to draw and kick, another supreme shot creator would take the top off the Nuggets defense and create some breathing room for all.

In Miami’s two losses, Strus is 1-for-17.

The delicate nature of Herro’s daily status means Spoelstra is being careful with his words to not create the image of an impending return or Herro being a hero in a spot where he hasn’t played in so long, yet would be counted on to be the best version of himself.

In the beginning, it felt like Spoelstra was being purposely vague when it appeared Herro would try to give it a go earlier in the series, almost Machiavellian. But he was throwing cold water on the prospect from the start, and the longer it goes, the less the likelihood he makes an appearance.

“This is just part of the process. You have to go through stages,” Spoelstra said. “First part of it was just shooting, then movement, then contact versus coaches and then the next level of contact in practice. He has not been cleared for a game, and he is still not cleared yet.

“But he is a competitor. He wants to be out there. He was really excited at the beginning of this playoff run for the opportunity that we felt that we had with this team. But there’s sometimes things that you can’t control.”

It was such an uneven regular season the only way one could envision a Heat run from the eighth seed to the Finals was with Herro catching fire, and relieving pressure off Butler. The fact that they’ve done it without him is impressive, but their need for him is glaring as the Finals go on.

Bam Adebayo knows what it’s like. Adebayo and Herro were revelations during the 2020 bubble run in Orlando, but Adebayo had neck and shoulder injuries that caused him to miss Games 2 and 3 of the Finals against the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers.

“Considering I’ve been in that position the first Finals, having to sit and watch your team go through that battle and try [to] figure it out without you,” Adebayo said. “But I think [Herro] is in good spirits. He is definitely inching his way back.

“But the biggest thing is him getting healthy, at the end of the day. We want him to be fully healthy so when he does return, if he does, we’ll have that same Tyler during the season where he was being that bucket-getter that we know him for.”

Adebayo said he found ways to be of assistance while he was out, talking on the bench and giving energy. But nothing is like being out there in the fight.

Adebayo, like Spoelstra and everyone else, knows Herro coming back out there is putting a big target on that right hand. The Finals are increasingly physical and increasingly desperate, so the Nuggets wouldn’t be above slapping that hand at every opportunity — er, slapping at the ball and if they get skin, so be it.

Anything to make an unsure player a little more unsure in critical moments, and even if Herro can help, everyone would be keeping a close eye on how he’s moving and treating that hand.

Everyone in the Finals is likely battling some ailment — some public, others more nicks and bruises after an eight-month grind.

“I mean, obviously he has been huge in what we have done all year long,” Butler said. “But I think his spirits are really high. He is doing everything that he can to come back and help.

“I don’t know where he is in that process, but I see him working. I see him smiling. I see him being around the guys, which is good for him and even better for us. We want him out there competing with us. We always have. We always will. But whenever he is ready, he’ll be back, and he will be better than ever.”