The Miami Heat has won five straight games to solidify its position in the Eastern Conference. At 37-26, Miami has the fourth best record in the East and seems to be hitting its stride for the stretch run of the regular season.
Miami is still without Chris Bosh though, and there continues to be no clarity about his status moving forward. The last update given on Bosh was that the Heat was exploring options despite the fact that there were many in the organization who felt he should just shut it down for the rest of the year. Almost two weeks have now passed since the Heat said that and there still isn't much of an idea about what might happen with Bosh moving forward.
From the beginning, the team was more optimistic with this blood clot than they were with last year's. Last season, Bosh's blood clots made way up to his lungs. This season, they are believed to be confined to his leg. Bosh posted on Twitter this weekend that he is "feeling good! Feeling great!" - but still did not provide any sort of update.
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was a little bit more helpful in providing an update as he said Bosh is working out with the training staff. Spoelstra added that Bosh isn't exactly working out with the team, but "he's staying engaged." Bosh has remained hopeful throughout this entire process that he would be able to return to the court at some point this season. It seemed like he would be shut down a couple of weeks ago, but now it seems like the signs are pointing to a return.
Bosh has not played since Feb. 9 and has missed a total of 10 games. In those 10 games, Miami has gone 8-2. But make no mistake about it - they need Bosh if they want to compete with the Cleveland Cavaliers in a playoff series. Getting Bosh back, at some point, would give the Heat the talent to be able to go toe-to-toe with the Cavaliers, but without him, it would likely be a mismatch. The 31-year-old forward is averaging 19.1 points and 7.4 rebounds through 53 games this season so far.
