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Heat’s Allen, Andersen game-time decisions for Game 5
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Guard Ray Allen and power forward Chris Andersen did not take part in Miami’s shootaround and will be game-time decisions as the Heat try to close out the Indiana Pacers in Wednesday night’s Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals in Indianapolis.
Andersen, who bruised his thigh in a collision with teammate Dwyane Wade in the Heat’s Game 3 win Saturday, sat out Monday’s 102-90 victory as Miami took a 3-1 series lead. Allen bruised his hip and thigh as he attempted to run through a screen in the second half of Monday’s win.
Allen is averaging 10 points and 3.5 rebounds off the bench while shooting a team-best 44.4 percent from 3-point range against the Pacers. If Allen can’t play, the Miami Herald reported that James Jones is the next likely shooter off the bench.
“I feel better, we’ll just have to see,” Andersen said Wednesday, according to ESPN.com. “I’m just getting treatment and trying to be smart about my injury.”
Andersen has averaged 6.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game off the bench in the series.
“He’s the human bruise, so he has a lot of different things going on all over his body, and he’s been able to play through all of that,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Andersen. “He’s a tough guy. We all know that. He plays through pain. But you have to understand the difference between pain and injury.
“Naturally, you’re going to get incredible urgency coming from their side. Their backs are against the wall, and that’s the only thing you have left is to play as if you have no tomorrow. And that’s something you not only have to try to match, you have to try to exceed it.”
