An offensive hub for the Miami Heat will seemingly make his season debut in the near future. Guard Tyler Herro has sat out Miami’s opening 14 games of the season as he recovers from his ankle surgery, which he got back in September, though he participated in his first practice of the season on Sunday. He also said he expects to be back on the court for Miami in the next week or two.
Herro is just a few more missed games away from being ineligible for major awards, but he isn’t all that concerned about accolades and wants to play “every game possible.”
“I mean every year I try to come in with a mind-set of playing the most games possible, not necessarily for accolades or anything like that,” he said. “I just want to be on the floor as much as possible. That’s what they pay me to do. And last season I had a very healthy season. This season started weird for me, something I couldn’t really control. So once I’m back on the floor again, I’m going to do as much as I can to be out there for every game possible. That’s what I want to do. That’s my goal.”
The 25-year-old’s imminent return is great news for a Heat team that has been quite short-handed recently. Over the last fortnight or so, not only has Miami been sans Herro, but big man Bam Adebayo has been sidelined as well. He exited a contest against the Denver Nuggets back on Nov. 5 with a left foot injury and has been on the shelf ever since.
But credit to Miami, it has been able to still stack up wins lately even without arguably its two best players. The Heat have a 4-2 record in games without Adebayo and are fresh off a win over a very good New York Knicks squad on Monday. They picked up an overtime win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the current No. 2 seed in the East, in that span as well.
Even though Herro has yet to play a single game this season, the Heat have still been one of the NBA’s top offenses in his absence. They rank third in the NBA in points per game and first in field goals made per contest, and their offensive attack will only be more lethal with a healthy Herro on the floor.
With any luck, Herro will have a clean bill of health for the rest of the season following his return and won’t fall victim to the injury bug again anytime soon. He’s too important a player to miss more time for a Heat team that is looking to make some noise in the East.