The Miami Heat suddenly have a lot of cards they can play with guard Tyler Herro, but selecting the correct one is a delicate matter.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra revealed Sunday that Herro has been doing contact work for the past week, ever since the team arrived in Denver. Out seven weeks since breaking his right (shooting) hand in the playoff opener in Milwaukee, Herro now appears he could be a giant X factor as he nears his return.
By securing a crucial 111-108 Game 2 victory over the Denver Nuggets to even the NBA Finals at 1-1 and steal home court for the fourth consecutive series, the Heat are anything but desperate going into Game 3 on Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC). And that opens up options.
Option 1: If ready -- and with more time for additional ramp-up work before Game 3 -- Herro could make his return. Even if in a limited, dip-your-toe-in-the-water role.
Option 2: If the Heat are concerned about disrupting their rhythm, they could leave Herro on the inactive list, giving him even more time to build himself up and the team more time to reintegrate him. And to leave a curveball Spoelstra can go to if needed later in the series.
Option 3: The Heat could semi-bluff, hinting that Herro looks good in practice, that he is getting close to a return, forcing the Nuggets to spend time preparing for him. And then Miami can continue to hold him out.
Spoelstra was already straddling the line Sunday, leaving all three options on the table.
"He is progressing," Spoelstra said. "We're really encouraged by the progress."
Spoelstra is not above playing the semantics game in trying to cloak lineup moves. He's been at it for years. Sunday, for example, he rejected pregame reports that he'd decided to move Kevin Love into the starting lineup. Which, of course, he already had -- and it turned to be a highly effective move.
In the past several days there have been significant conversations inside both the Heat and Nuggets camps about the Herro matter, sources said. There are opinions on all sides of his potential return.
The Heat have generally gotten strong play from their perimeter players since Herro's injury, opening up more playing time for playoff standout Caleb Martin and opening minutes for Duncan Robinson. In the Finals, Spoelstra got huge production by starting a bigger lineup in Game 2 with Kevin Love over Martin, and he isn't likely to go away from it.
Robinson has also been a valuable role player for the last several series and it'll be hard to cut his minutes. His 10 points in the fourth quarter of Game 2 might've altered the course of the series.
So if and when Herro returns, it will likely not be as a starter, which he was for all 68 games he has played this season. Herro was Sixth Man of the Year last season, a role in which he thrived, but it would be a change at a time when big changes aren't ideal.
"All we're doing is sticking to the process, trying to stack positive days, also understanding this is not trying to return to a game in December," Spoelstra said. "This is the Finals. So there is a little bit of context to this."
Some of the context is that this series very much revolves around shooting. In Game 1, the Heat struggled mightily from the outside, shooting 4-of-17 on 3-pointers in a first half in which they were buried. In Sunday's Game 2, they rebounded and went 17-of-35 on 3s, resulting in a crucial win on the road.
The Heat have high-variance 3-point gunners. Max Strus and Duncan Robinson combined were 1-of-14 in Game 1 and 6-of-13 in Game 2. Herro led the Heat in 3-pointers attempted (8) and made (3) per game during the season, and having his explosive offensive ability -- he averaged 20.1 points per game this year -- could be a big lift in a series that might swing on the 3.
He also can be a defensive liability, which the Heat manage with Robinson as well. Bringing Herro off the bench would potentially put him in lineups alongside reserve point guard Kyle Lowry.
Spoelstra moved Lowry to the bench midway through the season, in part because starting alongside Herro wasn't productive. Gabe Vincent, who had yet another strong playoff game with 23 points Sunday, has thrived as the starter, and Lowry has been a better fit off the bench. Bringing Herro back alongside Lowry would be risky and require some management from Spoelstra.
Leaving a player like Herro unused or underused is a risk that could lead to regret. But making a move that could disrupt flow and contribute to losing a game is also hard to stomach.
It's not something often seen at this time -- with these stakes.
"We have to maintain perspective," Spoelstra said. "We want to be responsible about this."