Miami Heat boss Erik Spoelstra explained his decision to bench Tyle Herro on Game 5 of the Finals

Miami Heat had a terrific NBA season overall as they fell short in the finals in front of a superb team. However, their rise from being eighth in the Eastern Conference to progressing to the NBA Finals to play against Denver Nuggets was an exceptional turnaround.

However, there were some tough decisions that were made by the franchise and also by their head coach Erik Spoelstra. One of the biggest misses of the postseason was Tyle Herro. He injured his hand in Game 1 of their first round clash against the Milwaukee Bucks. Herro underwent surgery for the same and missed the entirety of the playoffs because of that.

However, he worked hard on himself and returned to shape. he was raring to go in the elimination Game 5 of the finals. But Spoelstra decided to keep him on the bench as they witnessed the Nuggets winning their first ever NBA Championship.

It was surely disappointing for the fans and also for the Sixth Man of the Year to sit on the bench as his team go down in the finals. But Spoelstra has explained his decision. He feels that there is no perfect way to justify the call. Mostly he wanted to protect Herro, who is returning from a major injury which kept him out for so long.

“There’s no perfect answer to that, but certainly, yes, I do have empathy for Tyler. He’s a competitor, so I know how he felt after the game. He is like all of our guys in the locker room. They want to contribute, they want to do whatever they had to do to try to help the team win. He’s a great competitor,” Spoelstra explained in his exit interview.

“They’re not easy decisions. That was such an extreme circumstance that there’s not an easy answer to that… It’s my job as the head coach to protect him,” he further more added.

The youngster was listed out even a few hours before the game but eventually he was available. Many expected him to the last throw of the dice for Spoelstra in Game 5 of the finals.

In fact, the Heat managed the game well and were mostly in control. So it was ideal to keep Herro on the bench. Eventually they lost the control that they had and finished runners up. But looking at the duration of his injury and the fact that he was just returning from a big setback for a single game did not seem logical for Spoelstra, who decided to protect him.

The Denver Nuggets were exceptional in the final and rightfully won their first ever NBA Championship. But a fit Tyler Herro would have added more spice to the series. He was Miami’s third leading scorer in the regular season. Whiel Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo were picking up too many responsibilities on the court, they needed someone who can put the pressure on the opposition. Herro could have been the ideal guy with his shooting prowess. His presence would have surely given the Heat atleast something to fight for in the finals.