Chris Andersen Injury: Updates on Heat Star's Ribs and Return
Updates from Saturday, Nov. 8
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel has an update on Chris Andersen's status:
Updates from Wednesday, Nov. 5
Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald has the latest on Andersen:
Updates from Tuesday, Nov. 4
Chris Andersen will be out of action tonight against the Houston Rockets according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel:
Original Text
As one of the NBA's oldest players, key rotational piece Chris Andersen can expect plenty of off time this season.
Andersen, now 36 years old, was missing in action from the team's Sunday showdown with the Toronto Raptors, as the team revealed on Twitter:
The plan all along has been to bring Andersen along slowly, as Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel recently:
"I think he's in very good shape. Is he able to play his 25 minutes? No. But I'm able to play him certainly probably more than I could last year at this time. He's lighter. He's very light. While he didn't do much basketball work this summer, he was at least fit and he worked on shaving off some pounds as he gets older.
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Andersen sat out the team's preseason finale and then played 24 minutes against Washington while scoring seven points and tallying six boards. Saturday he saw just 17 minutes on the court.
The Heat's 107-102 win over Toronto on Sunday provided a glimpse as to how the team will cope when Andersen rests. Chris Bosh tallied 38 minutes, while backup Justin Hamilton pitched in with 18 and Josh McRoberts provided another eight.
Hamilton, a second-round pick in the 2012 NBA draft, is the primary backup plan for the time being. He posted two points and four boards Sunday.
Provided Anderson is a key cog in Miami's long-term plans, expect him to be given as long as necessary to recuperate. The Heat are off to a 3-0 start already, so a healthy set of names led by Andersen off the bench beneath the rim is the end goal.
