Both Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo are expected to return from injuries Monday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team announced Sunday afternoon.
Herro has been out since Nov. 8 with a Grade 2 ankle sprain while Adebayo has been sidelined the past seven games with a hip injury.
#MINvsMIA INJURY UPDATE: Tyler Herro (ankle) and Bam Adebayo (hip) are both available to play in tomorrow night’s game vs the Wolves.
Kyle Lowry (soreness) has been ruled out.
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 17, 2023
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 17, 2023
Herro, 23, was having the best season of his career before his injury. He was the Heat’s leading scorer at the time, averaging 25.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.4 steals on 44.6 percent shooting, including 41.0 percent from deep (8.7 3PA) and 90.9 percent from the free-throw line in the seven games before his injury.
Adebayo, perhaps the Heat’s most valuable player, is averaging 22.3 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists, shooting 55.2 percent from the floor with a 58.9 true shooting percentage. Over his last nine full games, Adebayo was posting 24.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.9 blocks.
The 6-foot-9 big man has shown more versatility defensively than he has at any point of his career, dropping more in pick-and-roll with the luxury of having Haywood Highsmith, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Josh Richardson at the point-of-attack.
Miami sports the NBA’s 8th-best NET Rating (plus-1.8) in non-garbage time situations–a 118.8 offensive rating (10th) and a 117.7 defensive rating (18th)–since Nov. 8, according to Cleaning The Glass; however, its defense and NET rank No. 25 and 26, respectively, over its past 10 games.
The Heat have won three of their last four games and five of their last eight. They will conclude their four-game home stand on Sunday before traveling up the coast to play Orlando Wednesday.
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Lowry out.
No pure point guard in the team.
If the Heat can win consistently in next stretch, then this would be a proof, that Heat don’t need a point guard.
Can be replaced by a bunch of ball handling wings and centers.
lowrys problem cant get from point a to point b to quickly.hes a pf in a 6foot frame
You nailed it!
Yes, this could be a reasonably fair litmus test for your, no need for another point guard, theory. No one else on the Heat is hurt, facing excellent competition at almost full strength also. We will learn a lot about this team over the next few games.
JRich will provide a steady hand in the back-up role. I would love to see Hampton thrown in there in certain situations. He needs to feel he can be trusted, even for a couple of minutes at a time. Hell, I wouldn’t even mind seeing Jaquez running the point. He has hi BBIQ, looks for open cutters and shooters, can drive and create his own shots, is a good defender and rebounder and has a height advantage over most PGs. It could work.
I sometimes get tired of agreeing with you, but I guess brilliant minds and all that……
I do feel Jaquez can be the pg of the future. Solid handle, size, vision, passing, 3 level shooting. I love the idea. Develop Hampton as backup and you’re set for the next 5-10 years.
Bingo RC! Are you a Scorpio who was born in the Year of the Dragon too? Maybe we are basketball’s version of Soulmates…Soul Brothers?
All Heat player can handle the ball to some degree. Some are better then others. Jaime can be better then others.
I am going the other way on this. I can’t see JJJ ever having point guard skills. And RJ becoming something good at the point is low probability. Players get drafted for a reason. Even when GLeaguers hit, they become useful, rotation guys, never stars or even A- players.
I do see your only thinking RJ may become a back up. I guess that is possible, but his absolute ceiling would be Vincent level play, which would be great , but it’s a low probability he becomes that. The jury is still out on HH and Cain, and even ORob, who has in my opinion, the best chance. Duncan, is a true exception to the rule. Maybe Strus is too. In other words, Lowry needing load management makes me even more inclined to us needing a point guard. The good thing is we have almost a perfect test few games to see the reality of the situation.
And even Duncan and Strus became low B+ players. And that is pretty much the GLeaguers ceiling.
Miami doesn’t need an all star PG, just a reliable, every day, two-way playmaker who can consistently score 12-15 ppg and hand out 6-8 apgs. There are several out there. FYI, RJ Hampton was drafted (in the first round) as a combo guard with playmaking skills. He’s grown since then. He has all the tools, he just needs quality coaching, skill development and confidence.
Scouting Report: A prototypical combo guard, RJ Hampton comes with 6’5″ size, explosive athleticism for attacking and playmaking skills. He can be used on the ball to drive and set the table for teammates, and the hope is that he continues to make progress with his spot-up and pull-up jumper.
I’m surprised by this comment. Jaquez has already been used as a de facto pg and he’s looked pretty good, bringing the ball up, distributing, driving and kicking, scoring.
Might be missing Lowry.
It will be nice to see everyone back for a change. Or will someone new need a rest?
Now we can hopefully see the team at full strength…just in time for the west coast swing (December 28 – January 5). We should know what kind of team we have by this time next month and what adjustments (if any) need to be made.
GO HEAT!!!
ty jjj jim bam doesnt get much better than that.give me 4some better ,not to many.suns maybe.3 allstars and future all star .
season begins tomorrow were whole maybe turtles out
Thank goodness. The next 12 games 9 of those are against winning teams. Can we go 8-4 starting with the Wolves? 😁😁😁
I’m excited to get those 2 guys back. I’d be ok with 7-5 or even 6-6, though I’m perfectly fine with you getting greedy! 😀
Haha! Greedy is going 10-2 with wins vs Minn, Philly, Clips, Phx, OKC! But who knows?! Go Heat!!! 😆😂
u get pompoms
Shirt…or cap 😁😂
cool
low expectations?
No, trying to be realistic. Easy to say when you haven’t given your prediction. Why don’t you do so and we’ll compare notes after the 12 games.