Chris Bosh: Incredible 24-Hour Stretch Will Cost Miami Heat Game 3 vs. Knicks
Chris Bosh just endured quite possibly the craziest 24 hours of his life, and his team is going to pay the price.
After flying on a team jet to New York in preparation for the Miami Heat’s Game 3, Bosh practiced with the team like usual on Wednesday. But, as luck would have it, his wife Adrienne went into labor and Bosh flew back to Miami in time to see his son Jackson enter the world at 3 a.m. Thursday morning.
Bosh flew back to New York today and is expected to be active for the 7 p.m. game according to the New York Times. Whether he plays or not, the Heat are now in danger of dropping a game in this best-of-seven affair for the first time this series.
Make fun of Bosh and his deficiencies all you want, but he has averaged 15 points and five rebounds this series while providing above-average post defense. His ability to bring Tyson Chandler out to the elbow to defend his 15-foot jumper is incredibly important for Miami.
Sure, the Knicks are now without Amar'e Stoudemire and his fists of fury, but that may end up being a good thing for New York. He clogged the lane for Carmelo Anthony and made him settle for long-range jumpers. ‘Melo ball is better without Stoudemire.
More than anything else, the Heat need Bosh for his defense. Joel Anthony, Udonis Haslem, Juwan Howard and Ronny Turiaf? Please.
How many minutes will Bosh receive tonight? That is the million-dollar question. They need his post presence and shooting abilities to fight off what is going to be a desperate Knicks team that is all too aware of their playoff win drought that dates back to 2001.
Obviously we have no idea how much sleep he got in the whirlwind of the past day, but odds are it wasn’t much, if any at all. By tipoff tonight Bosh is going to a zombie out there, and I’d be shocked if he registered anything close to the 28 minutes he has averaged in this series.
He is mentally and physically drained.
When you are running on little-to-no sleep, the first thing to go is your mental well-being. With the Madison Square Garden crowd rockin’, Bosh is going to be susceptible to mental mistakes that are usually not in his repertoire.
It’s going to be all on LeBron James and Dwyane Wade to dominate the perimeter and ensure the game doesn’t require Bosh’s services for more than a few minutes in the fourth quarter. With the way this series has gone, it’s certainly a possibility, but for the first time in this series, the Knicks should be the team that enters the game as the favorite.
Blame ‘lil Bosh.
