Returning from injury, guard says Heat have lost control
Returning from injury, guard says Heat have lost control but insists roster is resolute
The Miami Heat have lost control.
That, Tyler Herro said, is the toughest part of the 6-12 record they will carry into Saturday’s game against the Sacramento Kings at AmericanAirlines Arena.
“It is very frustrating,” the second-year guard said. “We’re always caught up in the, ‘Just control the things that you can control,’ and sometimes you can’t control those.”
Instead, coronavirus took control of the locker room, with eight players sent home from Boston three weeks ago, games and losses piling up until most were worked back into the mix.
Then neck pain for Herro turned into a sevengame absence that didn’t end until Thursday night’s return in the 109-105 home loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, which extended the losing streak to five.
“The corona thing, where we had all the guys in Boston that had to go home, we couldn’t control that. My injury, obviously nothing that I can control with that,” Herro said. “So this is different things that we don’t have control over. And with this crazy time and the time that we’re living in right now, this is what it is. And who knows? There could be something else that pops up tomorrow or next week, in two weeks.
“So we’ve got to continue to stick together as a team with the guys that are able to play and we’re just continuing to work everyone back.”
While seven of the eight sidelined by pandemic protocols have made it back, the wait remains with team leader Jimmy Butler, who last played in the Jan. 9 road victory over the Washington Wizards.
As it is, the team’s injury report still includes Butler, Goran Dragic, Avery Bradley and several others.
But Herro appears to be back to speed, after closing Thursday’s loss with 19 points, 10 rebounds
and five assists, playing with athletic tape on the back of his neck.
“I mean, at first I thought it was just something that I had slept on my neck wrong,” he said of the neck spasms. “But I guess the way my neck was responding, it didn’t allow me to go out there and play. Every time I would turn my neck, I would have some pain in this [shoulder] area. So I’m glad I’m back. I’m going to continue to get treatment at it and continues to get better.”
That optimism carries over to the team, which he insists is closer to the unit that advanced to last season’s NBA Finals than the one that on Friday stood one game out of last place in the Eastern Conference.
“I know this team is special,” the 2019 first-round pick out of Kentucky said. “Coming into this year’s training camp, this team is as good as the last year’s team that I was on.
“And like I said, just sitting here dealing with what we can control, things haven’t gone our way. But no one’s sorry for us. There’s no excuses.”
Including, he said, for going from an 18-point lead to a 19-point deficit in the loss to the Clippers.
“I feel like we’re having lapses throughout some of the games where we look good, and then there’s other times where we don’t look like ourselves,” he said. “I don’t know if we get bored with what’s working or what.”
Still, just to see Herro pushing himself was heartening to teammates.
“Coming back from seven missed games and putting his fingerprints on the game, it just means he wanted that win,” center Bam Adebayo said. “He didn’t complain and didn’t say, ‘My neck hurts.’ ‘This doesn’t feel right,’ or ‘I am out of shape.’ He just came in, hooped, and tried to help us get a win.”
Because, Herro said, what can be controlled are the steps required to get back to where the team stood only months ago.
“We are talented and we are one of the best teams in the East,” he insisted. “I’m telling you, we can do something special. This group is as good in this locker room. And we’re going to figure it out soon.”