The Heat’s miracle run finally came to an end Monday night after a 94–89 loss to the Nuggets in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Immediately after the loss, Miami coach Erik Spoelstra was left second-guessing a crucial personnel decision he made.
For the first time since breaking his hand in Game 1 of Miami’s opening-round playoff series, Heat guard Tyler Herro was available to play with a team in sore need of some offensive help. Opting to not switch things up, Spoelstra didn’t play Herro on Monday night because he didn’t think it was wise to just throw him in the fire of such a physical game having been sidelined for so long.
Still, he’s second-guessing himself.
“It’s just a really tough call and I’ll probably have to wrestle with that all summer,” Spoelstra told reporters.
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Despite the logic behind his decision, Spoelstra still said it “won’t save me from thinking about it for the next few weeks.”
Herro averaged 20.7 points per game this season for the Heat and was one of their most effective scorers. Fans will never know if playing Herro would have helped in Game 5, but it appears nothing will stop Spoelstra from obsessing over it this summer.
