Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro is closer to returning from his broken right hand, but it won’t be in Game 1 on the NBA Finals, coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters Wednesday.

The Heat, the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, open the best-of-seven finals series on Thursday on the road against the Western Conference champion and top-seeded Denver Nuggets.

“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves right now,” Spoelstra said Wednesday. “He’s still just starting this process. We do have a few days here just to continue his work. I can’t even make any kind of proclamation until he takes these next important steps. And that’s where contact and doing things more on the court live, and we’ll just see.”

Herro, 23, got the OK to return to basketball activities last week. He broke his right hand in the opening game of the Heat’s first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks and underwent surgery.

“I know we’re all encouraged by his progress that he’s made, but we want to continue to be responsible and make the best decisions,” Spoelstra said. “He’s not there yet.”

Herro was the 2021-22 NBA Sixth Man of the Year and moved into the starting rotation in this season. After starting just 33 times combined in his first three seasons, Herro averaged 20.1 points, 4.2 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game in his 67 starts this season.

Game 2 is scheduled for Sunday in Denver, with Game 3 set for Wednesday in Miami.

–Field Level Media