MIAMI — Since many are thinking doom and gloom about Miami forward Chris Bosh’s abdominal strain, we’ll feed them by starting with the bad news.
Orlando’s J.J. Redick sat out the last 17 regular-season games in 2010-11 with an abdominal strain. He returned for the playoffs, but he eventually needed surgery during the summer when a tear was discovered.
Now, we’ll give the medium news: Earlier this season, San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili missed five games over two weeks with an abdominal strain suffered just before the All-Star break. And in 2007-08, Boston's Kevin Garnett sat out nine with that injury.
Now, here’s the good news, at least as far as Heat fans are concerned: Utah forward Al Jefferson twice suffered an abdominal injury April 6 against Golden State, when he totaled 30 points 11 rebounds. He didn’t miss a single game.
What all this means is nobody really knows how long Bosh, who was ruled out indefinitely Monday by the Heat, will be out. Bosh was hurt in Sunday’s 95-86 Eastern Conference semifinal Game 1 win over Indiana, and he definitely will miss Tuesday’s Game 2.
“We're moving on as if he's not going to return this series,’’ Heat forward LeBron James said. “But we’ll see.’’
Bosh himself doesn’t have an idea. He said it “wouldn’t be surprising’’ if he’s able to return this series. But later he said, “This season has to be extended for me to play again.’’
Even if Bosh isn't back this series, the Heat can beat the Pacers without him. They showed that Sunday when, after losing Bosh just before halftime, they blitzed Indiana 53-38 in the second half.
The Pacers are still young and are a year or two away. Their season already became successful when they beat Orlando in the first round for their first playoff series win in seven years.
The real problem for the Heat could be if Bosh’s injury sidelines him or severely hampers him during a possible Eastern Conference finals matchup with Boston, which went 3-1 against Miami during the regular season. While the Pacers still might be too inexperienced to take advantage of Bosh’s absence in the playoffs, the Celtics sure wouldn’t be.
For now, though, the Heat are worrying about Indiana. Actually, though, are they really worrying?
“It’s not deflating," James said of Bosh being hurt. “It does suck. But every team has to deal with an injury. It's not deflating because we're still in a position where we can contend.’’
Said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra: “We feel we have enough right now.’’
An MRI taken on Bosh showed just the strain and no tear. Spoelstra said the information from the doctors was “good news’’ and it “could have been much worse.’’
Just to make sure his teammates weren’t too worried about Bosh, Spoelstra made a point of having Bosh visit with them Monday.
“Seeing him (Sunday), seeing the pain he was in, you feared the worst,’’ Miami guard Dwyane Wade said. “But seeing him (Monday) in the training room with a smile on his face. It wasn’t a big smile, it was a little one. But just to see him in there was good.’’
Bosh also was made available to the media by the Heat, who don't always provide injured players for interviews. He spoke with concern but not as if it’s doomsday.
“It’s just something we’re taking day by day,’’ Bosh said. “It’s not the worst thing that could have happened, so that was good news. We started treatments and everything, and it’s a process and we’ll see how my body responds. And I’ll try to get back out there as soon as possible. … It is a concern, but these are the cards I’ve been dealt right now.’’
Bosh was hurt with 1:06 left in first half Sunday, when he drove by Indiana center Roy Hibbert for a dunk. Bosh immediately went down on the court, where he remained for a short period.
“I exploded off my right leg and I felt it pretty much right away,’’ said Bosh, who figured out he couldn’t run with the injury at the other end of the court, going down again before his day was through with 43.6 seconds left in the half.
The Heat went 4-5 during the regular season without Bosh, but you have to discount a 0-3 mark during the final week of the season when James also didn’t play because he was resting. The Heat did go 1-2 without Bosh right after the All-Star break when he attended his grandmother’s funeral.
The two losses were to Utah and the Lakers, teams that, like Indiana, have big lineups. But those games were on the road, and James shrugged them off by saying the Heat had little time to prepare for each one.
Not long after those losses, the Heat picked up another big man in Ronny Turiaf, who was solid Sunday after starting the second half in place of Bosh. While Spoelstra wouldn’t say who will replace Bosh in the starting lineup, Turiaf is the leading candidate.
Also needing to step up in Bosh’s absence are big men Udonis Haslem and Joel Anthony. And count on James playing plenty of power forward.
“Yeah, definitely, because when Bosh was in he caused a lot of problems because he can spread the floor,’’ guard Paul George said of his Pacers needing to take advantage of Bosh being out. “It will make it a lot easier when we have three guards and (Indiana power forward) David West matching up with a shooter. We feel comfortable with that.’’
Pacers forward Danny Granger said the Heat not having Bosh “weakens them probably in the half-court sets a little more.’’
Mostly, though, the Pacers were being careful not to provide the Heat with any bulletin-board fodder. After all, they had just seen James and Wade combine for 42 points in the second half Sunday after Bosh had been ruled out.
James finished with 32 points and Wade with 29. And now both are talking about continuing to play a more increased role with Bosh sidelined.
“We have to play more minutes, and we have to be a little more offensive minded,’’ Wade said.
It certainly is doable against the Pacers. As for against the Celtics or in a possible Finals matchup against San Antonio or Oklahoma City if Bosh is still not healthy then, that’s another story.
The tricky part about an abdominal strain is if a player rushes back it could result in aggravating the injury and sidelining him even longer. Bosh is well aware of that.
“There’s always that kind of worry, but we’re going to make sure everything is solid before I get back out there, so it won’t be worse than it is,’’ Bosh said.
So stay tuned to see if Bosh’s recovery from his injury is more Redick-like, Ginobili-like or Jefferson-like. Regardless, Bosh sure wouldn’t mind being in the Finals in June to swap abdominal strain stories with Ginobili.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at christomasson@hotmail or on Twitter @christomasson
