Dallas Mavericks’ backup center Brendan Haywood put his injured right hip to the test during his team’s shootaround and was able to perform in a great manner. With that said, Haywood will be available in Tuesday’s Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Basketball scores.

The 7-footer, who left Game 2 with a strained right hip flexor and wasn’t able to play in Game 3, said he is feeling much better. An MRI exam confirmed that the inflammation in the hip has gone down considerably.

Haywood will try to dash for the first time since aggravating the injury he originally suffered during a practice before the Finals. If he can sprint and change directions, perhaps he will end up playing during Game 4. It’s obviously that he won’t be in a Finals game if he can’t do these types of stuff on the court. Basketball odds.

Since the postseason started Haywood has averaged 3.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 16 minutes per game. He’s been an important glass protector coming off the bench that features a few scorers who have defensive limitations in Jason Terry, J.J. Barea and Peja Stojakovic. Basketball spreads.

With Haywood sidelined, third-string center Ian Mahinmi got his first significant playing time of the postseason in Game 3.

The Heat lead Dallas 2-1 in the series.

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