Heat-Celtics news: Tyler Herro ruled OUT for Game 6

Miami will attempt to stave off elimination without Herro, who will miss his third straight game.

Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro will miss Friday’s do-or-die Game 6 in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics, Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes was first to report ahead of Friday’s contest. The team confirmed the report shortly thereafter.

Haynes noted that Herro participated in shootaround Friday morning, but sources told him that he felt “some discomfort while sliding defensively.”

“Herro, 22, participated in parts of shootaround Friday morning, but he experienced some discomfort while sliding defensively, sources said.

The Heat and Herro do not want to put his health at risk, particularly if he steps on the court prematurely and suffers a long-term injury that could require offseason surgery,” Haynes wrote.

Herro will miss his third straight game Friday. In his first three games of the series, the reigning sixth man of the year struggled — like he has for most of the playoffs — averaging 12.3 points on 39.0 percent shooting, making only one of his 14 3-point attempts — and, yet, the Heat have desperately missed their famed “drop-killer” in their half-court offense.

Over the last two games, Miami’s tallied an abysmal 61.9 points per 100 plays in the half-court — its worst two-game stretch of the season, per Cleaning The Glass. Their two aforementioned half-court figures — 65.7 in Game 4 and a season-low 58.8 points in Game 5 — placed in the 1st and 0th percentile, respectively. Not great!

The status for the Heat’s other players on the injury report — Kyle Lowry (hamstring), Max Strus (hamstring), P.J. Tucker (knee) and Gabe Vincent (hamstring) — have yet to be determined. Jimmy Butler, who very noticeably not looked like himself after his knee inflammation exacerbated in Game 3, was not listed on the injury report, though that doesn’t mean he’s not physically compromised.

Boston’s Marcus Smart (ankle) and Robert Williams III (knee) are game-time decisions, per Udoka. They were the only two regular rotation players on the Boston injury report.

Both played in Game 5’s 13-point victory over Miami.

This is a breaking news story. We will update when more information becomes available.