With the team already severely shorthanded, the Miami Heat announced shortly before Wednesday night’s nationally televised game against the Cleveland Cavaliers that guard Tyler Herro also would be out.
Herro was added to the injury report earlier in the day due to an illness, remaining away from the team during the morning shootaround at Rocket Arena.
It is just the third game missed this season by Herro, who was out for the Jan. 21 home loss to the Portland Trail Blazers due to a groin issue and missed the Feb. 10 loss to the Boston Celtics due to the stomach illness that was going around the locker room.
Asked pregame about having to flip the switch without Herro, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “Well, we have no other choice. And we have been developing other aspects and other guys out of the offense, and I think the ball movement and getting our X-factors more engaged, more confident has helped our offense.”
The Heat departed Miami on Tuesday shorthanded, with Andrew Wiggins (ankle), Kel’el Ware (knee), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (ankle), Nikola Jovic (hand) and Dru Smith (Achilles) remaining behind.
With Herro, confirmation of the absence came after the Heat arrived for Wednesday night’s game.
“It’s all the same,” Spoelstra said. “We prepared this morning without him. And we would have adjusted if he was available.”
The absences come at one of the busiest portions of the schedule, with five games in a week that began with Sunday night’s home overtime loss to the New York Knicks and Monday night’s home victory over the Washington Wizards and continues with home games Friday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Saturday night against the Chicago Bulls.
The Heat play the balance of the regular-season schedule with no more than a one-day break between any of their games.
Herro’s availability has been a significant factor this season for the Heat, after missing 40 games last season and all but one game of the Heat’s postseason run to the 2023 NBA Finals.
Herro is in the second year of a four-year, $120 million contract, eligible for an extension in October.
Available for the Heat on Wednesday night were Bam Adebayo, Kevin Love, Haywood Highsmith, Duncan Robinson, Terry Rozier, Davion Mitchell, Alec Burks, Pelle Larsson, Kyle Anderson, Josh Christopher, Keshad Johnson and Isaiah Stevens.
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