Miami Heat Injury Report (March 5): Tyler Herro and Caleb Martin's status revealed 

The Miami Heat injury report hasn't seen much relief this season. Nothing's changed regarding that ahead of Tuesday's game against the Detroit Pistons. The Heat injury report has seven players for this contest, including Tyler Herro and Caleb Martin.

Herro is dealing with a right foot medial tendinitis. He's missed the past five games. Tuesday will be his sixth consecutive absence with the same ailment. Meanwhile, Martin is dealing with a left thumb sprain. The forward hasn't missed any time regarding this issue and will be available on Tuesday, too.

Kevin Love and Richardson will join Herro on the sidelines along with Dru Smith, who is out for the season. Love is dealing with a right heel issue and has missed two consecutive games, with Tuesday being the third.

Meanwhile, Richardson is out with a right shoulder dislocation. He's missed seven consecutive games, with Tuesday being his eighth straight miss.

Jamal Cain and Alondes Williams are the other two players on the report who are out, citing G-League commitments. Below is the Heat injury report:

Player	Status	Injury
Jamal Cain	Out	G-League, Two-way
Tyler Herro	Out	Right foot, medial tendinitis
Kevin Love	Out	Right heel bruise
Caleb Martin	Available	Right thumb sprain
Josh Richardson	Out	Right shoulder dislocation
Dru Smith	Out	Right knee surgery
Alondes Williams	Out	G-League, Two-way

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Miami Heat HC denies claims that Tyler Herro is being saved for playoff run

Tyler Herro has missed 26 games this year. Tuesday will be his 27th missed game. The Miami Heat star guard has struggled to stay healthy all year. The Heat almost didn't have him through the entire 2023 playoffs run, either. Herro injured himself in the first game and returned in the finals in a limited role.

Miami trying to prevent that again was widely presumed to be a reason behind his recent absence. However, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra straightforwardly denied those claims on Saturday.

Spoelstra said the Miami Heat aren't "saving anybody" at this stage with the season coming to an end, but they have to follow protocols to allow Herro to return healthy after a difficult season.

Miami is battling in the Eastern Conference for a top-six finish with 22 games left. It is 34-26 ahead of Tuesday's contest. The Heat are a game behind the sixth spot in the West and two games behind a homecourt berth.

Miami will hope to avoid playing the play-in tournament for a second consecutive year. It made the finals from the eighth seed after playing two extra games before the playoffs and nearly losing the second game against the Chicago Bulls after trailing by double digits before the fourth quarter.

With all the injuries and the chance to potentially claim a fourth seed, the Miami Heat will try to maximize their opportunity to secure a higher seeding.