Heat’s Herro remains out. And Butler on his shooting; Malone on Denver plan
Heat guard Tyler Herro’s chances of returning during the NBA Finals continue to look increasingly questionable.
More than seven weeks after a serious hand injury, Herro still has not been cleared to return to game action, coach Erik Spoelstra said Thursday. He was ruled out for Game 4.
“Right now he is not cleared to take that next step,” Spoelstra said, as his team — down 2-1 to Denver — prepared for Game 4 on Friday in Miami (8:30 p.m., ABC).
“He has checked every box so far, but he is not at that next step yet to clear for an NBA Finals game. But he is doing everything he needs to do to take these next steps.
“This is just part of the process. You have to go through stages. 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.”
Herro fractured his right hand just before halftime of Game 1 of the first round against Milwaukee.
“His spirits are great because he’s able to work out,” Spoelstra said. “Where he was five weeks ago, he wasn’t able to shoot. He’s a competitor. He wants to be out there. He was really excited at the beginning of this playoff run. Sometimes there are things we cannot control.”
Jimmy Butler said Herro is “doing everything he can to come back and help. I don’t know where he is in that process, but I see him working and being around the guys. We want him out there competing with us. When he’s back, he’ll be better than ever.”
As for Kyle Lowry, Spoelstra said he’s fine after slipping late in Game 3.
BUTLER’S SHOOTING
▪ Butler had no particular explanation about why his shooting percentage has dropped from 52 percent over his first 10 playoff games to 42 in 10 since.
His scoring is down four points per game from the Boston series and 10 points from the Knicks series.
“Just some missed shots, part of the game,” he said. “It will get better. I will be better. Because when I’m better we’re better as a whole. We want to win, so keep attacking, get shots for my guys.”
Denver forward Aaron Gordon said the Nuggets made a change on Butler in Game 3, less often sending a second defender.
“I think we were overhelping on that,” Gordon said. “He was getting under the basket and we were overreacting, and when we would overreact he would spread the ball out to shooters. Just got to stay home and give the reasonable, respectable amount of help.”
Butler shot 59.7 percent from the field against Milwaukee, 43.2 against the Knicks, 42.0 against Boston and 42.1 in three games against Denver.
His scoring average in each round, in order: 37.6, 24.6, 24.7, 20.7.
Friday “we’re going to come out with a lot more energy,” Butler said. “We’re going to compete at a high level, and we’re going to get one at home.”
▪ Even though Dwyane Wade was unhappy with the Heat’s offer when he signed with Chicago, it has become clear how his one year in Chicago (2016-17) helped the Heat in one significant way: It planted the seeds for Butler’s move to the Heat two years later.
During that 2016-17 season, “I just always remember the things he told me more often than anything is everybody doesn’t go about things the way that you go about it,” Butler said. “But there is an organization out there that does, that being this one.
“He just told me everything that the Heat are about was about winning, and he wasn’t doing anything that he wasn’t supposed to be doing. I’m just saying he had been a legend here, still is, and he was just saying the reason he was who he was was because of the way that they went about things here, and he pointed me in this direction.”
Wade returned to play his final 1 ½ seasons in Miami, retiring months before Butler joined the Heat.
▪ Nuggets coach Mike Malone said Thursday that “we want [the Heat] to try to beat us with tough twos and eliminate the threes as much as possible.”
Denver accomplished that in Game 3. Malone noted the Heat “shot 34 percent in the restricted area; Nikola [Jokic] was part of that. He contested 21 shots, had two blocks.”
In Denver’s 109-94 Game 3 win, “our guys were so much more locked in, aggressive,” Malone said. “They [Miami] had only 11 made threes [in 35 attempts]. The defensive communication, discipline was so much better. It will even have to be better in [Game 4].”
▪ Spoelstra, on his relationship with Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel: “It’s been fun developing a relationship with him. We were fortunate enough to be able to spend a whole afternoon during training camp, see how they operate. Then in the afternoon, we ended up just talking shop. That’s fun.
“Obviously, he has been to a lot of our games. We’ve been texting back and forth. We share very similar thoughts about finding strength in adversity and using those as lessons to help you grow.”
This story was originally published June 8, 2023 at 2:24 PM.
