Heat's Amar'e Stoudemire: Will come off the bench Friday

Stoudemire will come off the bench in Friday's Game 6 against the Raptors, Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press reports.

Analysis:

With Hassan Whiteside (knee) out for the last two games, Stoudemire entered the starting five in both contests, but only played 15 minutes combined. It appeared Stoudemire was struggling physically to contain Raptors center Bismack Biyombo, and now that he's been bumped to the bench, it wouldn't be surprising if the former All-Star was dropped from coach Erik Spoelstra's rotation. In Stoudemire's place, rookie wing Justise Winslow will start out of position at power forward, while Luol Deng shifts over to center to match up with Biyombo.