Heat’s Tyler Herro discusses knee and foot injuries: ‘I want to be healthy for the playoffs’

The Miami Heat’s road win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night didn’t end without a scary moment.

While dribbling the ball up court against the Pelicans’ full-court pressure with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Heat starting guard Tyler Herro stopped to try to create some separation but slipped and hyperextended his left knee. Herro lost the ball and immediately grabbed his left knee while lying face down on the court.

How Heat overcame fourth-quarter fight, ejections to continue winning: ‘It’s that time of the year’

Herro was then helped to the locker room and didn’t return to the game. But after the 106-95 win over the Pelicans, Herro offered positive news on his knee.

“It was just unfortunate having my knee bumped a little bit,” Herro said Friday night while moving around without any assistance in the locker room following the victory. “But I think structurally, everything is good — no major, even minor damage. They thought that everything was good. It just kind of scared me more than anything. It’s a little soreness. But I’ll see how I respond in the morning and go from there.”

Another encouraging sign: Herro traveled with the Heat to Sacramento on Saturday for Monday’s game against the Kings.

Herro finished Friday’s win with 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 shooting on threes, six rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes before limping to the locker room late in the fourth quarter.

Herro, 24, was already banged up entering the game, playing Friday in the Heat’s first game after the All-Star break despite initially being listed as questionable with right foot discomfort. The pain in his right foot began when Herro returned from an All-Star break vacation.

“Honestly, I don’t even know how it happened,” Herro said Friday when asked about his foot issue. “I took four days off from moving and stuff, and I was on vacation. When I came back to Miami, my foot was just tight as hell. Everything I was doing, there was just discomfort with it.”

Herro dealt with a similar foot injury during his rookie season that forced him to miss time.

“It’s the same little area that I dealt with in the past with my right foot in my rookie year,” Herro said. “It’s the same thing as that. So we’re really trying to manage it right now.”

But with Heat guards Josh Richardson (right shoulder dislocation) and Terry Rozier (sprained right knee) already out, Herro played Friday through the discomfort in his foot. Now, Herro and the Heat need to determine if he can also play though any discomfort he may feel in his left knee following Friday’s hyperextension.

Herro is averaging career-highs in points (20.8 per game) and assists (4.4 per game) while shooting 43.7 percent from the field and 39.9 percent on 8.1 three-point attempts per game this season. He essentially missed the Heat’s entire playoff run to the NBA Finals last season after breaking his right hand in the opening game of the playoffs.

“Just trying to make sure that if I do play tonight or on this trip, that it doesn’t get worse,” Herro said hours before playing through his foot injury on Friday. “That’s really what I’m trying to toggle back and forth with. I want to play and obviously I want to be healthy for the playoffs, so that’s my main thing.”