Chris Bosh to come off bench

MIAMI -- Chris Bosh will remain a high-profile bench player for the Miami Heat.

Bosh will stay in a reserve role Saturday for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics, even though he's been back from an abdominal strain for the past two contests."I think we have a good thing going right now and I'll continue to come off the bench as long as it's good," Bosh said. "I'm going to have my time out there with certain lineups, and that's not going to change my approach and how I do things."

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra did not change his lineup for Game 7, though he has raved about what Bosh has been able to do since returning from the abdominal injury. Miami started Shane Battier and Udonis Haslem alongside LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers.

"Starting is irrelevant, totally irrelevant," Bosh said. "I think it'll be irrelevant for as long as we're playing. It really doesn't matter for me. I just want to be out there and as long as I get to play, it doesn't matter."

Bosh played 28 minutes off the bench Thursday in Game 6, twice the amount he played in Game 5, when he made his return after missing three weeks and nine playoff games.

The 6-foot-11 Bosh has averaged a modest 8.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in the two games, but has made a significant difference. The overall rebounding was virtually even through the first four games of the series, but the Heat have out-rebounded the Celtics by 20 in the past two contests.