When the Miami Heat signed Greg Oden last summer, this was why — to match up against Roy Hibbert in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Through two games of that series — tied 1-1 with Game 3 in Miami Saturday — there has been no sign of Oden. He has been pinned to the bench by coach Eric Spoelstra, who said Oden wasn’t healthy and ready to go.
But there he was Friday, working out, as tweeted by Tom Haberstroh of ESPN in this Vine.
When asked about it, all Spoelstra would say is Oden “could” play.
The reason Spoelstra is hesitant? Oden played six minutes against Hibbert in a regular season game and got owned — Hibbert scored 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting, basically getting where he wanted and doing what he wanted in that matchup.
With so much on the line in Game 3, is Spoelstra willing to risk a repeat performance? More likely, he sticks with what he knows and trusts in Udonis Haslem.
