Tyler Herro was active for Game 5 of the NBA Finals after the Miami Heat upgraded him to questionable before the game Monday in Denver.

The Heat trail the Denver Nuggets 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Herro broke his right hand on April 16 in the second quarter of Game 1 in a first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks. He underwent surgery on April 21.

At the time of the surgery, the Heat said Herro would miss a minimum of six weeks. It has been roughly seven weeks.

Herro averaged 20.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 67 games (all starts) this season. He led the NBA and set a Heat record by shooting 93.4 percent from the free-throw line.

The 23-year-old has a 17.7 scoring average in 242 games (100 starts) over four NBA seasons. He has made 601 3-point baskets.

–Field Level Media

The last time the Heat and Nuggets met in Denver, Miami pulled off a victory in Game 2 that evened the NBA Finals.

Fast forward to Monday, and the series returns to Denver with the Nuggets heavily favored to claim the first championship in franchise history. That’s courtesy of a pair of convincing wins in Miami that staked Denver to a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

The Nuggets are heavy favorites ahead of Game 5. That includes 8.5 points at BetMGM, where they have received slightly more than half of the spread-line action with 51 percent of the bets and 52 percent of the money. The line is at 9.0 points at BetRivers, with the Nuggets heavily supported with 59 and 74 percent of the action, respectively.

The Heat’s +300 moneyline has been far more popular at BetMGM, drawing 79 percent of the total bets and 51 percent of the money. However, the Nuggets have again been heavily backed at BetRivers, drawing 64 and 82 percent, respectively, at -375.

“Yeah, just understand that we haven’t done anything,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “I told our guys, the first thing I said (after the Game 4 victory), ‘We’re not celebrating. It’s a good win. We’ve done our job. But we’re not celebrating like we’ve done anything yet.'”

THE NEWS
For everybody outside of the Nuggets’ inner circle, there is plenty of evidence that their time is now. If not in Game 5, then in Games 6 or 7 during the coming days.

The Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic has nearly averaged a triple-double for the entire playoff run with 30.1 points, 13.3 rebounds and 9.8 assists. In the Finals he is averaging 30.8 points with 13.5 rebounds and 8.0 assists.

Aaron Gordon had what was perhaps his best game in a Nuggets uniform during Game 4 with 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range.

Gordon also has kept Heat star Jimmy Butler in check on the defensive end. Butler has averaged 21.8 points per game in the series, although he has been more productive on the offensive end in the past two games with scoring output of 28 and 25.

The eighth-seeded team in the Eastern Conference, the Heat don’t seem to have enough offense to keep up with the Nuggets. All three of the Heat’s defeats in the series have been by double digits, although they will take solace in the fact that their lone victory — 111-108 in Game 2 — came at Denver.

“Same thing it’s always been, it’s one game at a time,” Butler said. “Now we are in a must-win situation every single game, which we’re capable of. Some correctable things we’ve got to do, but it’s not impossible. We’ve got to go out there and do it. We’ve got three to get.”

Bam Adebayo has averaged 22.3 points and 12.5 rebounds during the four games of the NBA Finals, up from his averages of 17.8 points and 9.8 rebounds in the playoffs. But Miami has been held to 95 points or fewer in all three defeats.

“All we are going to focus on is getting this thing back to … Miami and things can shift very quickly,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It’s going to be a gnarly game in Denver that is built for the competitors that we have in our locker room.”

PROPPED UP
The most popular player prop for Game 5 at BetMGM has been Jokic at +425 to score the first field goal of the game. At BetRivers, it has been Jokic at +120 to make more than 1.5 three-pointers, which has drawn 6.4 percent of the total player prop money at the book. Murray at -278 to score more than 20.5 points has been the most popular overall with 10.3 percent of the total bets.

KEY STAT
Game 2 was the Nuggets’ only home loss in the postseason. They have covered the spread in nine of their past 10 games against the Heat, and Denver has won the first half in each of its past 13 games against Miami.

INJURY REPORT
While the Heat’s Tyler Herro appears close to returning from a hand injury that occurred in the opening game of the playoffs, the shooting guard still has not contributed to the cause, leaving 20.1 points per game from the regular season on the bench.

THEY SAID IT
Malone’s plan over the weekend, in addition to figuring out how to get past the Heat one more time, was to have his players ignore all media — social and otherwise — and keep their minds on the task at hand as if it were still significantly out of reach.

“Don’t listen to everybody telling you how great you are because we haven’t done a damn thing yet,” Malone said. “We have to win another game to be world champions, and we’re going to do that by simply taking it one quarter at a time.

“We stay true to our identity, we’ll give ourselves a great chance to do that.”

–Field Level Media

Victor Wembanyama, Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson are among 19 players who have received invitations to attend the NBA draft, ESPN reported Tuesday.

The draft will be June 22 in New York City. The San Antonio Spurs have the top pick.

Wembanyama, a 7-foot-4 center who averaged 21.6 points and 10.5 rebounds a game in France last season, is the consensus No. 1 selection. He played for Metropolitans 92 of the French Betclic Elite league.

Miller, a 6-9 forward, averaged 18.8 points and 8.2 rebounds a game as a freshman at Alabama. Henderson, a 6-2 guard, was at 17.6 ppg and 6.6 assists a game for the Ignite of the G League.

According to ESPN, other NBA draft invitees are Amen Thompson, Ausar Thompson, Cameron Whitmore, Jarace Walker, Anthony Black, Taylor Hendricks, Gradey Dick, Bilal Coulibaly, Cason Wallace, Nick Smith, Dereck Lively II, Kobe Bufkin, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Jett Howard, Jordan Hawkins and Keyonte George.

All 19 invitees are among the top 19 prospects in ESPN’s Top 100 ranking. Four or five more players are expected to be invited to the draft, ESPN reported.

–Field Level Media

ABC, ESPN and TNT averaged 5.47 million viewers per game during the NBA playoffs, the most-watched playoffs in five years, the networks announced Tuesday.

As for the NBA Finals, ABC brought in an average of 11.64 million viewers — a decrease from 2022, when a six-game series between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics averaged 12.402 million.

The 2023 Finals concluded Monday night with the Denver Nuggets defeating the Miami Heat in five games for their first NBA title in franchise history.

Game 5 averaged 13.084 million viewers, according to Nielsen. That was a four-year high, slightly beating out than last year’s NBA Finals Game 5 between the Warriors and Celtics (13.016 million).

Though Denver and Miami are large markets with teams in all four major North Americans sports leagues, some skeptics believed a Nuggets-Heat series would not garner as much interest as a potential matchup between the Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, historic rivals who each lost in their respective conference finals.

Denver led the nation with an average household rating of 21.55 for the length of the series, according to the blog Sports TV Ratings.

–Field Level Media

Fresh off capturing the first NBA championship in franchise history on Monday, the Denver Nuggets were installed by sportsbooks as favorites or co-favorites to repeat as champions.

The Nuggets closed out the NBA Finals in Game 5, defeating the visiting Miami Heat 94-89 to end the best-of-seven series. Finals MVP Nikola Jokic amassed 28 points and 16 rebounds in the title-clinching win.

DraftKings listed Denver as a +500 favorite to win the championship again in 2024. The nearest followers per DraftKings are the Boston Celtics (+550), the Milwaukee Bucks (+650) and the Phoenix Suns (+850).

FanDuel posted Denver and Milwaukee as co-favorites at +460. The Celtics (+500) and the Suns (+700) are the only other teams with odds better than +1200, which is the number listed for both the Golden State Warriors and the Philadelphia 76ers.

BetMGM has the Nuggets at +500, followed by the Celtics (+550), the Bucks (+600) and the Suns (+850).

Others among the favorites according to FanDuel are the Cleveland Cavaliers (+1900), the Los Angeles Lakers (+1900), the Los Angeles Clippers (+2100), the Heat (+2500), the Dallas Mavericks (+2700) and the Memphis Grizzlies (+3000).

Per DraftKings, the other favorites aside from the top four are the Lakers (+1200), the Warriors (+1200), the 76ers (+1300), the Mavericks (+1300), the Clippers (+1500), the Heat (+1800) and the Grizzlies (+1900).

BetMGM’s other top contenders are Dallas, Golden State and the Lakers, all at +1200; the Clippers and Philadelphia, both at +1400; and Memphis and Miami, both at +2000.

The biggest longshots according to FanDuel are the Charlotte Hornets, Utah Jazz, Orlando Magic, Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons, all at +50000. DraftKings has the Hornets at +40000 and the Pistons alone at the bottom at +50000, while BetMGM has Charlotte and Detroit bringing up the rear at +50000.

Neither of this year’s finalists were among the top five favorites in odds posted right after the Golden State Warriors won the 2022 NBA Finals.

–Field Level Media

As the final seconds ticked down toward the first NBA title in Denver Nuggets history, star center Nikola Jokic walked backward past center court, turned toward the Miami Heat bench and shook hands with his vanquished opponents.

Understated when the championship moment arrived, Jokic was anything but during the Game 5 of the NBA Finals, scoring 28 points and grabbing 16 rebounds in a 94-89 victory on Monday to wrap up the championship.

After not winning the overall NBA MVP award for the first time in three seasons, Jokic instead helped Denver earn the ultimate team prize and was chosen the Finals MVP. The Nuggets never lost more than twice in any playoff series and finished with 10 victories in their last 11 postseason games.

“It’s good, it’s good,” Jokic said immediately after the victory on the ABC broadcast. “We can finally go home now.”

Jokic, always reluctant to talk about his own play, instead spoke volumes on the court by averaging 30.2 points, 14 rebounds and 7.2 assists.

“Nikola Jokic is a great person, he is a great husband, father, son and brother, and on the basketball court he has proven time and time again that he is the best player in the NBA,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “He’s our MVP, we love him and we’re thankful he’s wearing a Nuggets uniform.”

Michael Porter Jr. put up 16 points and 13 rebounds, Jamal Murray had 14 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 11 as the top seed from the Western Conference finished off the eighth seed from the Eastern Conference in the best-of-seven series.

Denver advanced to the ABA Finals in 1976, joined the NBA the following season then lost in the Western Conference finals four times before making the title series this season.

“All the hard work, all the sacrifice, all the dedication all culminated in winning the championship,” Malone said. “We have news for everybody out there: We’re not satisfied with one. We want more. We want more.”

Jimmy Butler rallied late to score 21 points for Miami, while Bam Adebayo contributed 20 points and 12 rebounds and Max Strus and Kyle Lowry each had 12 points. The Heat knocked off the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks and the second-seeded Boston Celtics on their way to representing the Eastern Conference in the Finals.

The Heat became just the second eighth seed to reach an NBA Finals, joining the 1999 New York Knicks, who lost the title series to the San Antonio Spurs.

“(It’s) true in sport and also in life that you don’t always get what you want, but there is no regret from our side,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Everybody, staff and player alike, put themselves out there and put themselves into the team, whatever was best for the team. The tough pill to swallow is that it just wasn’t good enough. … (The Nuggets) are one hell of a basketball team.”

Perhaps struggling with the magnitude of the moment, the Nuggets shot just 1 of 15 from 3-point range in the first half and 3 of 8 from the free-throw line. However, they trailed just 51-44 at halftime before leading by as many as three points in the third quarter. Denver entered the fourth quarter trailing 71-70.

A jump hook by Jokic early in the final period gave the Nuggets a 72-71 lead with 11:39 to play before both teams ramped up their defensive intensity. After neither side scored for a 2:35 stretch, Jamal Murray’s 14-foot pullup jumper gave Denver an 81-76 advantage with 6:43 left.

A Jokic runner put the Nuggets up 83-76 with 4:43 remaining as the Heat opened the fourth quarter 2 of 16 from the field. Butler came to life in the final period, scoring the team’s last 13 points, including three free throws that were awarded even though he kicked out his right leg and caught an opponent on a 3-point attempt. However, Miami did not score over the final 1:57.

A Bruce Brown rebound and putback basket put the Nuggets up 90-89 with 1:31 remaining, and a steal followed by two free throws from Caldwell-Pope with 24.7 seconds left gave Denver a 92-89 lead.

Butler missed a 3-point attempt with 17.1 seconds remaining, and Brown sealed the title with two free throws for a 94-89 advantage with 14.3 seconds left.

“I learned a lot about myself just being out for two postseasons, just grinding and having so many things go through my head,” said Murray, who missed the playoffs in 2021 and 2022 as well as the entire 2021-22 regular season due to a knee injury. “Just to see us healthy and knowing what we can do, we had the belief from the get-go.”

–Field Level Media