January 29 2011 Last updated at 05:36 PM ET
The carousel of Miami Heat guards shuffling constantly in and out of lineup coupled with injuries the team has suffered recently has now brought Eddie House back to being a steady contributor to the team who originally drafted him back in 2000.
Though slowed by a right ankle sprain that limited his minutes against the New York Knicks on Thursday, House stepped up and provided a much-needed boost off the bench to continue building on his blossoming production as of late. Putting aside the Knicks game, he's averaged 13.3 points and scored in double figures in the Heat's last five games along with knocking down 14 3-pointers.
Relegated to spectator during the Heat's dominant stretch for the last month and a half, House chose to stay positive and be ready if coach Erik Spoelstra needed him.
"Of course it's tough when you're not playing," admitted House after helping the Heat to a much-needed win against the scrappy Detroit Pistons with 15 points. "But that's the thing about it, you sit there and look at it in a negative light then when your number gets called you'll probably have negative results."
With only so many minutes to go around, House was squeezed out of the rotation once Chalmers was fully healed from a high ankle sprain suffered during the offseason. Once Wade and Bosh return to the lineup, and Spoelstra can revert to his normal lineups, it will remain to be seen whether House can play regular minutes. The savvy veteran with championship experience from his time with the Boston Celtics understood it was nothing personal as he looked on from the bench earlier this season.
"That's nothing that I can control," House said diplomatically. "It wasn't anything that i was doing per se, it was a matter of the team making changes, and I was the odd man out. I just stayed positive, kept working hard and coming to the gym and getting my shots up. Making sure I was staying into the game even when I wasn't playing and, when I got my number called, that positive energy turned into positive results."
In crunch time Friday night, it was House that was on the floor while Chalmers and Carlos Arroyo looked on from the bench. With LeBron James and Mike Miller as the playmakers for the team, Spoelstra couldn't afford to lose House's firepower with Dwyane Wade missing yet another game.
His faith was rewarded with a surprising play featuring House creating off the dribble and initiating contact with Ben Gordon for the game-winning free throws in a very Wade-like manner. House couldn't contain his emotions and celebrated to the delight of the home crowd and his teammates.
"Feeling it? I was feeling good," he laughed afterward in the locker room. "I was getting open shots and I was trying to knock them down. I was feeling no better than I was feeling the last few games.
"You never know, (Friday night) I played three minutes. It's all about staying ready. I just try to maximize my minutes."
Asked about the particular celebrations, House said little but chose to dedicate it to a close friend who's had his own history of stepping up in the clutch.
"That was for my boy Sam Cassell," House said. "He knows, that's my boy Sam."
Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2011/01/29/eddie-house-makes-playing-time-count/
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