Heat’s Bam Adebayo makes Tyler Herro ‘sad puppy’ joke after injury return

In the win against the Rockets, Herro came off the bench looked like he never had an injury as he scored 17 points, recorded six assists, and collected five rebounds. Looking back at the timeline, he thought taking the week off after the aforementioned Pelicans game would be enough, but it wasn’t which led to him taking a a platelet-rich plasma injection to ramp up his recovery.

“I took a week off when we got back from the West Coast trip,” Herro said. “Hoping that that was going to be enough for me to come back, and it wasn’t. I ramped up and then ultimately that’s what made us decide to get the PRP shot, because the rest wasn’t cutting it.”

“So the PRP shot was kind of bringing it some extra reinforcement, to kind of hopefully release some pressure on the tendon,” Herro continued. “And I was able to do that with some weeks of rest after the PRP shot. And, ultimately, that’s what got me back on the floor…I think trying to ramp up and get back every week, and then there’s like a setback and then eventually I just had to sit down and rest.”

Herro was in the midst of having one of the best seasons of his career as he is averaging 20.7 points, 4.4 assists, and 5.3 rebounds per game which each metric is around his career-high. However, injuries have plagued his season as besides the 20-game absence, he missed most of November with a Grade 2 right ankle sprain.

Herro talks about coming back in the most integral part of season for Heat

Now he’s back and ready to play in the Heat’s most crucial games in the home stretch of the regular season and the post-season wherever the team falls in the standings. He missed most of last season’s miraculous playoff run due to a broken hand.

“For competitors only,” Herro said via The Sun Sentinel. “That’s what we preach and that’s what we want as NBA players, to be playing in games like that, games that mean something.”

Miami teammate in Jimmy Butler credits Herro for “staying ready” and being “engaged” with his team throughout his absence on the floor. Butler led the team with 22 points in the victory over the Rockets which was necessary after the prior devastating loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

“He stayed ready,” Butler said. “He stayed engaged and was still around the guys as often as he could be. And he came in and took off right where he left off.”

Herro talks about coming off the bench for Miami as of now

While Friday’s performance was impressive, Herro is not used to coming off the bench as he’s been a usual starter for the team this season. However, there is an understanding that because he missed the last 20 games and with the process of easing him back into the team 100 percent with the injury, the University of Kentucky product said he’ll “come off the bench for now.”

“I mean look, there’s six games left,” Herro said. “I just missed 20 games. You know, it’s hard to just implement me into the starting lineup at this point. Whatever Spo (Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra) decides to do is ultimately up to him. It’s not an easy decision. Obviously, everyone knows I’m a starter in the league. But like I said, to come back with six games left it’s tough to just implement me into that lineup like that. But ultimately, I’m going to get starter minutes and that’s all that matters. You know, I’m a starter but I’ll come off the bench for now.”

The Heat are 43-34 which puts them seventh in the tightly packed Eastern Conference with five games left in the season. Sunday evening is arguably the most important contest as it will be against the Indiana Pacers who are also in contention for the sixth seed as the winner decides the tie-breaker.