Former Marquette star Jimmy Butler is getting much of the credit for the Miami Heat’s improbable playoff run.
And while Butler certainly deserves the many accolades he has received during the postseason, Miami’s appearance in the NBA Finals is in part due to stellar three-point shooting,
After finishing a dreadful 27th in the regular season from beyond the arc, the Heat has made nearly 40% of its three-point attempts in the playoffs — and that’s without perimeter specialist Tyler Herro.
Could that be changing soon?
As of Monday night it was unclear if Herro, a former star at Whitnall High School, would be able to play in Game 3 on Wednesday night. He’s been unavailable since breaking his hand in the first game of the playoffs in Milwaukee.
Herro is apparently still experiencing pain in his surgically repaired hand when he shoots.
Should he play? On Brian Windhorst’s ESPN Hoop Collective podcast Tuesday, both Windhorst and Zach Lowe agreed that the Heat have to be careful how it works Herro back into the mix…. if the team brings him back all in the final series with the top-seeded Denver Nuggets.
“This Denver team is so good and their pick and roll defense…. there are ways to peck at it with pull-up jump shooters…. and that’s one thing Tyler Herro can do,” Lowe said during the podcast.
“If I’m Erick Spoelstra and I feel confident in it, I try him in a very limited role. Let me see if you can make a few shots in a four or five minute stretch…. But I’m ready to pull the plug early and have a tough conversation.”
“The Heat have been great for seven weeks without him,” Windhorst added. “If you lose this series and you don’t play him, you may say to yourself, I wonder what would have happened if he played, or if you do play him, you do risk messing up what you’ve got going. think not playing the card is what you would have a harder time living with.”
Herro averaged 20.1 points in 67 games this season and shot nearly 38% from three-point range. His target date for returning to action has been Wednesday when the Heat host the Nuggets in Miami.
He is finishing the first year of a four-year, $120 million contract.
Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.
DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tyler Herro’s status for Game 3 of NBA Finals still in question