Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Herro questionable for game against Thunder
The Miami Heat’s backcourt rotation could take another hit heading into the final matchup of their road trip.
Tyler Herro was listed as questionable for the Heat’s Monday game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena, which closes out their seven-game road trip — tied for the longest in the franchise’s history.
Herro, who has been coming off the bench recently, did not play in the second half of the Heat’s win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday because of a right hip contusion he sustained in the game’s first half.
He recorded five points, four rebounds and three assists in 14 minutes before leaving Saturday’s matchup because of the injury.
The Heat have been without guards Avery Bradley and Goran Dragic during their road trip due to Bradley’s strained right calf and Dragic’s sprained left ankle.
Meyers Leonard (shoulder) and Chris Silva (hip) remain sidelined.
Bradley, who’s missed the team’s last nine games and has only appeared in 10 of its 30 contests due to contracting COVID-19 and a knee injury that preceded his calf ailment, is hoping to return to the floor before the Heat’s first half of the season ends on March 4 against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Dragic has missed the team’s last eight games since sustaining the ankle injury against the Washington Wizards on Feb. 5. The Heat are hopeful he’ll be able to rejoin the team during their four-game homestand that starts on Wednesday versus the Toronto Raptors at AmericanAirlines Arena. They have home matchups against the Utah Jazz on Friday and Atlanta Hawks next Sunday before ending the homestand versus the Hawks on March 2.
The potential absence of Herro — who’s averaged 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists through 22 games this season — from Monday’s game could mean more playing time for two-way guards Max Strus and Gabe Vincent, with Vincent listed as probable for Monday’s game due to knee soreness.
Strus stepped into Herro’s place in the rotation in the second half of Saturday’s game.
He scored two points on 1-of-9 shooting from the field and an uncharacteristic 0-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. Strus entered Saturday’s game shooting 42.2 percent from beyond the arc (27 of 64) through 16 games, with his cold 3-point shooting against the Lakers bringing his 3-point percentage down to 37.5.
“Max played well,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said following Saturday’s game. “He gave us some good defensive minutes. He gave us a spark. I liked his aggressiveness to keep on his shooting those open looks. Not a lot of players would continue to be aggressive and that was the right play.”
Spoelstra has lately gone backand-forth when it comes to which of the team’s two-way guards will receive rotation minutes.
If Herro isn’t available for Monday, both could be relied upon against the Thunder.
“I love our two-way guys, in Max and Gabe,” Spoelstra said. “They’re both plug-and-play guys. And that’s unique. We still think they both have great upside. But we feel very comfortable playing them in games where their minutes are significant and we need production.”
“Right now, I think we need a little bit more ball-handling. But I feel really comfortable with either one of them, depending on the context of the game.”
Starting guard George Hill remains out for the Thunder due to a procedure he underwent earlier in the month to address a thumb injury he sustained last month. Hill has missed the Thunder’s last 15 games.