Nicolas Batum (ankle) says that he should be able to play in Wednesday's game against the Heat, Christy Chirinos of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.

Batum (ankle) is officially listed as a game-time decision for Wednesday's Game 5 tilt with the Heat, but he took part in the Hornets' morning shootaround and will most likely play.

Analysis:

Coach Steve Clifford said that Batum will go through pregame warmups before a final ruling is made on his status, but given the swingman's participation in shootaround, it looks like his left ankle sprain has noticed some considerable improvement. With Batum sitting out the past two games -- both Hornets wins -- it's uncertain if Clifford will alter his starting lineup from those contests, which has featured Courtney Lee and Marvin Williams on the wings and Frank Kaminsky at power forward. As a result, Batum could end up coming off the bench for this one, but he should still receive as many minutes he can handle, as he's arguably been the Hornets' second-best player after Kemba Walker throughout the season.