Perhaps the only silver lining in the Heat's 114-97 blowout loss to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday was the comeback of center Greg Oden who played in his first regular season game since December 5, 2009. After the game in which he scored six points and grabbed two rebounds in eight minutes, Oden is reporting that there is no significant pain or swelling in his knees increasing the likelihood that he could play against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.
Oden was back on the court a day after his first regular season game in more than four years, and participated in light conditioning and shooting drills.
"It's nothing I can't manage," Oden told ESPN.com. "I'm just looking forward to playing in the next game. I got to play in a game. That's what it really is, when you're able to battle and be out there. I would have loved for us to win and say I was able to give us a spark. But you just move on to the next game, and hope I can play."
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said Oden would go through another round of conditioning work and tests to gauge swelling in his knees before a decision would be made about his availability for upcoming games. Miami is midway through a six-game trip that also carries the team to Charlotte on Saturday and ends Monday in Atlanta.
Oden had been progressing gradually since he played a four-minute stint during an Oct. 23 preseason game in New Orleans. But he also hinted Thursday that he was stalled a bit by swelling and other conditioning issues in the weeks after playing in that game.
"We were all very happy that he was able to get out there and compete, even for a short period of minutes," Spoelstra said. "We know the struggle that he's been in, and just to see the smile ... we allowed one guy to have a smile on his face after [Wednesday's game], and that was Greg."
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