Chris Bosh has been nursing a lower abdominal strain since May 13th. He sustained the injury in Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers and hasn’t been back since. The Miami Heat have gone 5-4 in those 9 games since Bosh was ruled out. He worked out with the Heat on Tuesday, and it’s now in the hands of Miami’s medical staff and head coach Erik Spoelstra. ”It was encouraging this past week,” Spoelstra said. ”He’s able to do some more activity on the court. The last two days he’s been able to do real basketball work.”
Spoelstra said he would be in ”constant communication” with members of the Heat medical staff throughout the day. The Boston Celtics will be ready either way as head coach Doc Rivers has said Chris Bosh has been in the scouting report since Game 1 even though he was ruled out. ”He’s another big scoring threat for them, a guy who can really put up some good numbers on any given night,” Celtics forward Paul Pierce said. ”He stretches the floor with his shooting and he can drive the ball, so it’s definitely something you’ve got to be aware of. … If he plays, he plays. We’ll have a game plan for him. If not, we’ll go as we go.”
Question here is, are the Heat ready to put Bosh right back in the rotation after 9 games? LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have been carrying this whole team since he went out, and his inside presence has been sorely missed this series. Kevin Garnett is having a field day and is averaging a double-double this series. I’m sure the addition of Bosh will slow Garnett down, but will it help them on offense? Wade and James have come accustomed to being the 1-2 punch in the offense, and now throwing Bosh back in the lineup may hinder their production. Bosh was averaging 14.7 points and 6.8 rebounds in the playoffs before he got injured. With the series tied 2-2, I’m sure the Heat want all the help they can get after dropping 2 straight games in Boston, and want to take the 3-2 advantage before heading back to Bean town. Stay Tuned.
*** UPDATE ***
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said during his pre-game comments that All-Star forward Chris Bosh will not start Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics at AmericanAirlines Arena on Tuesday night.
Spoelstra said that Bosh will go through a full pre-game workout routine before the team determines whether he will play. If Bosh does play, Spoelstra said, it would be in “short bursts” and in a “small role.”
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