MIAMI -- An MRI on Monday showed Chris Bosh suffered an abdominal strain and the Miami Heat have ruled him out indefinitely. The team is operating under the belief he'll miss the rest of the playoff series with the Indiana Pacers.
The injury occurred on a dunk during the first half of the Heat's 95-86 Game 1 win on Sunday.
"This season has to be extended for me to play again. That's what's on my mind," Bosh said. "We started treatments and it's a process. We'll see how my body responds."
The fact that the team didn't put a timetable on Bosh's return suggests that his strain is not mild. But the team hasn't ruled him out for the season, so his injury likely falls within the moderate category of abdominal strains. Typically, players who have suffered this type of injury have been out from two to four weeks.
"We're moving on as if he's not going to return in this series but we'll see," LeBron James said.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the team was encouraged by the MRI results, which showed that Bosh did not suffer a complete tear that would require surgery. Earlier this season Mike Miller suffered a similar injury, a sports hernia, that did need surgery.
"We're looking at that as good news, it could've been much worse," Spoelstra said. "I actually felt better today."
Spoelstra declined to say who would start in Bosh's place at center opposite Pacers All-Star Roy Hibbert. In Game 1 Spoelstra promoted reserve Ronny Turiaf to that role but also expanded James' minutes at power forward.
That is the most likely strategy for Game 2 with James' role perhaps changing the most. He played power forward during the fourth quarter Sunday, scoring 16 points and holding Pacers power forward David West to just two points.
"This changes the dynamic a little bit," Spoelstra said. "It's not necessarily set in stone. I'll make changes and adjustments as we go and see what works. That's just the way it has to be."
The Pacers still feel the Heat have enough weapons.
"Our plan isn't going to change dramatically," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "With Bosh in the lineup we understand LeBron and [Dwyane] Wade are major threats. With him out of the lineups we understand they're major threats. There's not a lot of differences in how you're going to approach the game. Obviously it helps [us] not having Bosh's scoring ability out there but they have other guys."