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Spoelstra offers injury updates on Herro and … Burnie; Love back with Heat after birth of daughter

ira winderman, south florida sun-sentinel
·4 min read
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DENVER — It was a most unusual injury report that Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra found himself addressing Sunday, ahead of Monday’s 8:30 p.m. Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Denver Nuggets.

First, there was the question that has preceded each game of this best-of-seven series that Denver leads 3-1, with a chance to now close it out at Ball Arena.

No, Spoelstra said, no change in the status of guard Tyler Herro, who has been sidelined since the first half of the Heat’s first playoff game on April 16, continuing to try to work back from the surgery for a broken right hand.

“No new update,” Spoelstra said. “He’s doing another contact workout today.”

Herro later was on the court at practice Sunday with a wrap around his right hand, launching jumpers during drill work.

He formally was listed as out for Game 5 later in the day.

And then something new, with Spoelstra asked about the status of Burnie, the Heat mascot who has found himself on an injury list of his own.

The employee in the oversized costume was injured during a skit that went wrong during Friday night’s Game 4 at the Kaseya Center, when what were supposed to be playful punches from former UFC champion Conor McGregor turned into something more painful.

The team mascot required emergency-room treatment during that game before returning home.

“That’s the Miami Heat toughness that we’re talking about,” Spoelstra said amid laughter. “He should have been allowed to take the first swing.
“Yeah. We won’t reveal who that is, but yeah, he can take a punch and get back up. He’s not going to miss any time.”

Guard Gabe Vincent said he wasn’t sure what was going on during the skit that was a marketing moment for pain-relief spray being marketed by McGregor.

“I mean that’s Heat culture,” Vincent said. “We get knocked down and we just get back up. That’s just part of what we do. I had no clue it happened until after the game. So I hope he’s feeling better and doing alright.”

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Back at it

Forward Kevin Love was back with the team Sunday after he and his wife, model Kate Bock, welcomed their first child on Saturday, a daughter, with the couple having been on pins and needles amid the unexpectedly lengthy playoff run.

“Definitely need to get some rest now and get some sleep,” Love said before Sunday’s practice. “Everybody is happy and healthy.”

The timing, Love said, eased the turnaround for Game 5.

“Was able to make it in for our film session,” he said. “Got a little bit of sleep, so today will be good to get up and down, get acclimated here and get some treatments, get some rest and be ready to roll.”

Center Bam Adebayo said Love’s special moment lifted spirits even while a loss from the team’s season being over.

“Obviously,” Adebayo said, “when you have a special moment like that, you’re obviously very happy no matter what situation you’re in. To see the joy on his face for him having his baby, obviously, his wife is healthy and everybody is healthy throughout, that’s the blessing that you get. That’s the blessing he probably needed. That’s great news for all of us that we probably needed.”

No doubt

Forward Jimmy Butler said Sunday this is no time to be concerned with only one team, Love’s 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, having recovered from a 3-1 deficit to win the Finals.

“We didn’t come this far to stop playing now, no matter what the odds are, the analytics,” he said. “When we get out there, we’ve just got to compete. We’ve got to win one, and then we’ve got to win another one and then we’ve got to win another one.”

Nuggets coach Michael Malone said he told his team Sunday to play as if it was down 3-1.

“That’s why my message to our team before we came down to the media and open practice, was our approach has to be we are down 3-1,” he said. “They are desperate; we have to be more desperate. They are hungry; we have to be hungrier.”