Heat stick with Rashard Lewis in starting lineup, Greg Oden active for Game 1

Sticking with the starting lineup that brought success in Games 4, 5 and 6 against the Indiana Pacers, the Miami Heat will keep Rashard Lewis in the starting lineup as a forward for Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.

While Lewis didn't score early in the Eastern Conference finals, the on-off court numbers indicate that the Heat were far better with him on the floor, threatening to space the floor rather than a traditional two-big lineup. In Games 5 and 6, Lewis got hot from downtown, hitting 9-of-16 3-point attempts.

In last year's finals, the Heat found great success with Mike Miller on the floor in a similar role to the one Lewis is employed in, though the bigger Lewis is also more capable of hiding on a Spurs big than Miller was. That could be important, since the Spurs will start Tiago Splitter at the five instead of Boris Diaw, as some expected.

Lewis averaged 4.5 points in 16.2 minutes this season, hitting 34.3 percent of his threes. He's averaged four in 15.7 so far in the playoffs, shooting just 32.4 percent from long range. Even still, the threat of Lewis in the corner matters more than his actual output.

Also of note is that Greg Oden is active for the Heat, though it seems unlikely he'd play, having not played beyond garbage time so far in the playoffs.