With the Miami Heat losing disappointingly to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night, 118-108, the team looks to bounce back on Friday against the Orlando Magic, though they are sporting injuries to key stars. As Herro in the Heat's loss to the Mavericks was one left to be desired, his presence is on the injury report along with Norman Powell ahead of the in-state clash.
While Herro has played in five games since making his season debut, with the offseason surgery being in his ankle and foot area, he is listed as “questionable” for the contest with “right big toe irritation.” As for Powell, who missed Wednesday's loss to Dallas, he still has the right ankle sprain, also with Herro as questionable.
Those two are Miami's top scorers on the team, with Powell averaging 25 points per game in 17 contests, while Herro has averaged 23.8 points in the five games played. Though that backcourt duo could be explosive, Herro continues to build chemistry with the team under a new offensive philosophy.
“We got a deep team,” Herro said after the Dallas loss, via The Miami Herald. “So it’s not just Norm. I’m playing with a bunch of great guys, great players on his team. It has been great for me, and just getting back into the swing of things. And just looking forward to continuing to build the chemistry.”
Heat's Tyler Herro is still working to get back to 100 percent
While the Heat are one of the league's highest scoring teams, there's no denying that it has been an adjustment in getting back key players from injury like Herro, especially with him still looking to get back to an All-Star level like last season before the surgery. Herro would echo the same sentiment, saying that while he feels good, it's a “long process” of getting himself back to 100 percent.
“I feel good,” Herro said. “Just got to keep it rolling day by day, like I said. It’s a long process of getting my foot back to where it was before the surgery.”
Herro also looks to bounce back after a rather frustrating outing against the Mavericks, scoring 20 points in the first half, but going scoreless in the second, missing all five shot attempts.
His usage rate dipped in the second half, with himself and others expressing that the ball needs to find him more, but that will come naturally as everybody gets a full grasp of the system, with head coach Erik Spoelstra “encouraged” by the early returns.
“I’m really encouraged by how he’s [Herro] been able to fit in and really help us by him getting to his strengths,” Spoelstra said. “We can be so dynamic offensively with everybody healthy and reading the game appropriately. You need it against the very best teams.”
At any rate, it remains to be seen if Herro or Powell misses more time as Miami looks to get back in the win column on Friday against Orlando.
