Chris Bosh: Heat Star out Two Games with Personal Issues

The Miami Heat are going to be without a key member of their Big Three for a couple games.

UPDATE: Thursday, March 1st, 6:02 p.m. EDT

ESPN' Brian Windhorst reports on sad news for Chris Bosh and his family. The Heat center will miss the next two games after suffering a death in the family. Windhorst writes: 

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Bosh did not travel with the team to Portland for Thursday night's game against the Blazers and he will not play Friday night when the Heat play in Utah.

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There is no word on whether he will make Sunday's game against the LA Lakers, but it seems there is a general hope that he will. 

According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, Chris Bosh is going to miss the Heat's next two games:

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Heat announce Chris Bosh will not play tonight in Portland or tomorrow in Utah because of a personal matter.

— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) March 1, 2012"

Bosh is averaging 18.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game this season and was last seen playing in his seventh All-Star Game over the weekend.

What It Means

It's unknown what kind of personal matter Bosh is dealing with right now. Whatever it is, it's obviously pretty important, so you hope that he gets things taken care of.

The Heat will miss Bosh while he's gone. He gets overlooked because of LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, but Bosh always ends a given game with a solid stat line. He's nowhere near as flashy as James and Wade, but he gets the job done.

With Bosh out of the picture, LaMarcus Aldridge should be in for a good game against the Heat on Thursday night. That won't necessarily translate into a win for the Trail Blazers, but the Heat will be missing Bosh's presence by the end of the game.

The Jazz have some pretty good big men of their own in Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson, though Millsap is currently battling a foot injury. 

LeBron and Wade better be ready to pick up the slack.

What Happens Next

Bosh has only been ruled out for the Heat's next two games, so I'm assuming he'll be back for the Heat's showdown against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

The Heat will definitely need Bosh in that game, as they'll need a big man to help them counter Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

That game tips at 3:30 p.m. EST and will be shown nationally on ABC.