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Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro is closer to returning from his broken right hand but will miss Game 1 of 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 picked up the injury during the opening game of the Heat's first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks and underwent surgery, before being cleared to return to basketball activities last week.
"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."