Is Tyler Herro playing tonight against the Celtics? Latest injury update on Heat star ahead of matchup (19th May 2023)

Tyler Herro hasn't played for the Miami Heat since injuring his right hand when diving for a loose ball in his team's series opener against the Milwaukee Bucks. Despite Tyler Herro's absence from the rotation, the Miami Heat have found a new gear during the postseason and are now competing in the Eastern Conference finals.

For game two against the Boston Celtics, Tyler Herro will remain on the sidelines as he continues to be listed as 'out' on the team's injury report.

The Miami Heat snatched a game-one victory over the Boston Celtics courtesy of a 46-point third quarter. Now, Erik Spoelstra and his team will need to be prepared for the Boston Celtics counterpunch.

Another win for the Miami Heat would put them in complete control of their Eastern Conference finals series. As the Boston Celtics would then need to travel to the Kaseya Center in Miami, trailing by two games in a best-of-seven series.

Yet, for the Miami Heat to take control of the series, they will need to find a way to stop Boston's All-NBA wing tandem of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Both of the Boston Celtics wings are capable of swinging a game in a matter of minutes and are genuine threats heading into game two.

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Max Strus reveals Miami Heat are taking series personal

During the 2022 NBA playoffs, the Boston Celtics eliminated the Miami Heat during the Eastern Conference finals, courtesy of a last-second miss from Jimmy Butler in game seven.

However, according to Miami Heat sharpshooter Max Strus, who was speaking to Heavy on Sports' Sean Deveney, the whole roster is taking that loss personally.

“It’s personal to everybody now,” Strus said. “Everybody was here last year. The guys that weren’t have taken that on and they know what happened last year and we take that personally.”

Strus has been an integral part of the Miami Heat's rotation this season, playing in 80 regular-season games, starting 33 of them. Throughout the regular season, Strus has averaged 11.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists while shooting the rock at a 35% clip from deep.

During the Miami Heat's surprising run back to the Eastern Conference finals this season, Strus has upped his perimeter accuracy and is now shooting 38.6% deep. However, without Tyler Herro in the rotation - one of Miami's best on-ball creators - the Heat could find Boston's half-court defense difficult to break down.

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Miami Heat have defied the odds

Regardless of what happens in the remaining games of the Miami Heat's series against the Boston Celtics, it's fair to say they have defied the odds this postseason.

They finished the regular season as the eighth-seed in the Eastern Conference and losing their opening play-in game to the Atlanta Hawks. The Heat have clawed their way through the playoffs, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks.

Now, the Boston Celtics are all that stands against the Heat and the NBA Finals. That means that NBA fans around the world are in for a closely-contested series, as both rosters have unfinished business.