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Heat HC Spoelstra: Birdman getting healthier, may have to go deeper into rotation

Soobum Im / USA Today Sports

Chris Andersen was able to set aside a thigh bruise and play 18 minutes for the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, something the Heat needed desperately with a relatively thin nine-man rotation.

While Birdman is said to be progressing well with the bruise, head coach Erik Spoelstra is expecting to go deeper into his rotation for Game 2 on Sunday regardless. Of course, part of that may be necessitated by the status of LeBron James, but it's also probably because the Spurs spread their minutes out so effectively.

The Heat did the same in Game 1, but Spoelstra seems to be hinting that he'd prefer to do so by using more bodies rather than spreading minutes across his nine key guys. That could mean run for Udonis Haslem, a dusting off of James Jones or Toney Douglas for spacing or, crazy as it may seem, a Greg Oden sighting.

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