Chris Bosh Injury: Heat's Big Men Must Step Up to Move Past Pacers

The Miami Heat need their bench to step up big the rest of the way against the Indiana Pacers after Chris Bosh's injury rocked the team in Game 1.

Bosh went up for a dunk and successfully completed the play, but not before getting fouled by Roy Hibbert. He fell to the ground and stayed down for what seemed like an eternity to Heat fans. He did manage to get up and knock down the free throw for the three-point play, but he couldn't stay in the game much longer.

Bosh's strained abdomen is serious enough to warrant an MRI, according to Rotoworld. Furthermore, there is a good chance he's not coming back until after the second-round series with the Pacers is finished, depending on the severity of the injury.

This means the Heat's big men off the bench will be counted on to carry the load.

Ronnie Turiaf and Joel Anthony will now be asked to log considerably more minutes than they have all year long. For a team with an already thin bench, they have their work cut out for them.

The Pacers feature a strong frontcourt tandem of David West and Hibbert, and their ability to crash the boards will make life difficult on Miami's big men. Hibbert is especially difficult to box out, at 7'2" and 260 pounds. Turiaf will have his hands full trying to keep him away from snagging a ton of offensive rebounds in the upcoming games for the Pacers.

Most folks wrongly take Bosh for granted in the grand scheme of things. They take a look at the stat sheet and figure he's easy to replace. The thing is, Bosh did a lot of little things right, and his consistent, strong play is one of the reasons LeBron James and Dwayne Wade have so much success on a nightly basis.

The Heat won Game 1. They won't find the rest of the series as easily won without Bosh's constant presence in the paint. It's time for the rest of the men to step up, or the Heat players could find themselves sitting at home for the Eastern Conference Finals.

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