SAN ANTONIO — LeBron James said he is ready to go for Game 2 Sunday night, but added he is still feeling some of the effect of the cramps he suffered in Game 1.
He said he does not feel “normal.”
So exactly how many minutes can the Heat’s Mr. Everything go?
“Not sure,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before Game 2 Sunday night in San Antonio. “I’m open to it. I’ll read it. Obviously we’ll be attentive to it, and if we need to go deeper (into the bench), we will. Anticipate we might have to. He’s been through every situation you can possibly go through. We had an extra day of rest and we’ll manage it.”
The good news for the Heat is the air conditioning is working and on in the building.
Spoelstra talked about the Heat trusting their depth, but he tends not to really lean on it the way the Spurs and Gregg Popovich does. In Game 1 of the Finals, despite his cramping, LeBron James played almost 33 minutes. Rashard Lewis, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and Ray Allen were all over 30 minutes, and Norris Cole played 29. Those heavy minutes in the heat had Miami players wilting more than Spurs players at the end, when San Antonio pulled away for the win.
One Heat player we could see more of is Chris Andersen.
The Birdman has been limited because of a thigh bruise suffered in the Pacers series. He played 17:32 in Game 1 but wasn’t as explosive and impactful as he had been against the Spurs last season. Miami could use minutes from him to protect the paint and challenge Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter inside.
“He actually looked probably his best yesterday in practice,” Spoelstra said. “So we will see. You know, it was a rough week for him, but he’s getting better each day.”