Tyler Herro has had a brace removed from his surgically repaired right hand, but the Miami Heat guard has not been cleared to shoot with that hand, TNT’s Allie LaForce reported Sunday.
Herro has not played since Game 1 of the Eastern Conference against the Milwaukee Bucks on April 16. He scored 12 points in 19 minutes before getting hurt and diving for a loose ball just before halftime.
The Heat has overcome the loss of the shooting guard and has advanced to the finals of the Eastern Conference. Miami won the first two games of that series on the road against the Boston Celtics and plays Game 3 at home on Sunday.
Herro’s initial recovery time was set at four to six weeks, and he held out hope that the fever would continue so he would have a chance to return for the postseason. Game 1 of the NBA Finals is scheduled for June 1st.
Forward Duncan Robinson started in Herro’s place in Game 2 against the Bucks, but forward Kevin Love has started all 12 games since then, including Sunday.
Entering Sunday, Love had averaged 19.6 minutes and 6.3 points in the 12 games since Herro’s injury. Forward Caleb Martin was contributing 12.0 points in 28.2 minutes per game since then.
Herro was Miami’s third-leading scorer this regular season at 20.1 points per game, behind Jimmy Butler (22.9) and Bam Adebayo (20.4).
Herro, last season’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year, started all 67 regular-season games he played this season, his fourth in the league. He started a total of 33 games in his first three NBA seasons.
Miami knocked off the No. 1 Bucks in the first round before knocking off the New York Knicks in six games in the second round.
The Heat rallied to win each of the first two games against the Celtics, 123-116 in Game 1 and 111-105 in Game 2.
Game 4 is Tuesday in Miami. Game 5, if necessary, is in Boston on Thursday, while Game 6 is scheduled for May 27 in Miami. Game 7 will be in Boston on May 29.