Tyler Johnson Injury: Updates on Heat Guard's Recovery from Shoulder Surgery

Miami Heat guard Tyler Johnson had been out of the lineup since he underwent shoulder surgery on Feb. 3 to repair a torn rotator cuff. However, he has been cleared to return.

Continue for updates.

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Johnson Active vs. Hornets

Friday, April 29

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said Johnson will be "fully available" for Game 6, per Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post.

Johnson was also available to play in an emergency situation in Game 5 against Charlotte, but didn't see the court.

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Johnson Comments on Recovery

Tuesday, April 26

“The biggest thing is I made progress today without having pain,” Johnson said Monday after missing Game 4 of the Heat's opening-round playoff series against the Charlotte Hornets, per Lieser. “This was the second day where I had a good workout or practice and didn’t feel anything. If this continues, I think we can start working toward maybe getting in there.”

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Johnson Provides Valuable Backcourt Depth for Heat 

In just his second year in the league, Johnson provided some valuable minutes off the bench behind Goran Dragic. 

Injuries plagued the Heat backcourt during the regular season, forcing all three of Miami's guards to miss time and allowing Johnson to split time with Beno Udrih.

Johnson even started five games while Dragic and Udrih nursed injuries. 

Per Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel, Johnson's shoulder was bothering him as early as December, but he tried to play through the pain. 

In 36 games, Johnson put up career highs with 8.7 points and 2.2 assists per game, though that's not saying much, given his limited playing time in his two years in the NBA.

He described his style of play to Lieser as "playing with energy, and 40 minutes of kamikaze is hard to maintain."

Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.