Lakers vs. Heat: Why Chris Bosh's Absence Gives Lake Show a Chance

Chris Bosh missed last night's game in Portland because of a death in the family. It is undetermined whether he will be available for the game between his Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Heat are good enough to beat the Lakers without Bosh, but without Bosh, the Lakers stand a chance. 

If the Lakers can do the following things, they have a chance to beat the Heat. 

First, they're going to need exploit the fact that Bosh is missing. The Lakers have the best inside scoring tandem in the NBA. The Heat are a bit susceptible to scoring in the paint already, ranking "only" 12th in the NBA. Without Bosh, that could get even worse. 

The Lakers have one of the best, if not the outright best, scoring tandem of big men in the NBA in Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. The Lakers are going to need to exploit the lack of size in the middle and punish the heat inside. 

Kobe Bryant is going to need to acknowledge this and look to feed the ball inside. He might be the NBA scoring champion, but he's not going to outscore LeBron James and Dwyane Wade by himself. 

The Lakers are still going to have their hands full. Mario Chalmers is greatly improved this year and hitting a lot of shots from deep. It's not like the Lakers are known for shutting down opposing point guards; they are going to need to contain him. 

Bryant will at least be able to limit the damage that Dwyane Wade does (as long as he doesn't re-fracture Bryant's nose). I expect Kobe will be highly motivated and the masked Laker will win out in his matchup with Wade. 

The Lakers will also need the basketball player formerly known as Ron Artest to step up if they want to slow down LeBron James. While they won't be able to "stop" him, if the Lakers can keep James under control, they have a shot to win. 

If they can take care of all those things, the Lakers do have a chance to beat the Heat, as hot as the Heat are.