NBA Playoffs 2012 TV Schedule: Heat Better Off Saving Chris Bosh For Game 6

The Miami Heat had two chances to put the Eastern Conference Finals out of reach against the Boston Celtics and couldn’t do it, but they can’t overreact now.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst has reported that the Heat are looking to activate Chris Bosh for Game 5 on Tuesday night to ensure they don’t head back to Beantown down 3-2. While head coach Erik Spoelstra didn’t confirm or deny the report, he sounded optimistic about Bosh’s status (via Miami Herald):

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I’ll continue to make my evaluations. To say it’s definitive [for Tuesday] is premature. Each day is a new evaluation. He had three good workouts in Boston. Reality is it’s not a normal situation. Everything is heightened. If he doesn’t play, it’s not a setback.

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While it makes sense from the standpoint that Miami needs to win Game 5 to ease some of the pressure, the long-term ramifications could be devastating.

Abdominal strains are a tricky business for athletes. There is no way to really speed up the healing process. The best medication is rest. It has been nine playoff games and three weeks since Bosh suffered the injury against the Indiana Pacers, and there is no definitive answer as to when he should return.

The hardest part about dealing with an injury like this is the chance it will be re-aggravated almost immediately. There is no way of telling if Bosh will suffer a setback if he jumps the wrong way or lands awkwardly.

With the notoriously dirty Kevin Garnett guarding him, you know the elbows would be flying straight to his gut.

So when do you bring him back?

When the stakes are higher.

Obviously the stakes haven’t been higher this season, but Game 5 is not an elimination game. If they lose, Bosh could always come back for Game 6 with the team in full-desperation mode. He needs all the rest he can get, and if Miami can survive without Bosh until the NBA Finals against a much better opponent in the San Antonio Spurs or Oklahoma City Thunder, the Heat will be in a much better position to win the title.

Remember, this is a championship-or-bust sort of scenario for Miami.

You can’t overreact to Game 4. Despite playing “C” basketball, Miami was a missed Dwyane Wade three away from holding a commanding 3-1 series advantage. Miami is the more talented and younger team, and the longer this series goes, the more we will be reminded of such.

This is not an all-hands-on-deck situation just yet, especially considering how bad Boston has been on the road in the postseason (2-6). Let Game 5 play out, and have faith that Wade and LeBron James can take the series back to Boston up 3-2.

Miami still holds the advantage in this series, and the risk of losing Bosh for the remainder of the postseason is too great to throw him out there in a home contest that isn’t an elimination game.

If everything works out, Bosh will be starting Game 1 of the NBA Finals on over four weeks of rest. This is the maximum amount of time the Heat could have given him before doing battle with Tim Duncan or Serge Ibaka in the trenches. 

NBA Playoff Schedule:

Mon: OKC @ SA: 9:00 p.m. ET, TNT (Game 5)

Tues: BOS @ MIA: 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN (Game 5)

Wed: SA @ OKC: 9:00 p.m. ET, TNT (Game 6)

Thurs: MIA @ BOS: 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN (Game 6)

Fri: OKC @ SA: 9:00 p.m. ET, TNT (Game 7 if necessary) 

Sat: BOS @ MIA: 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN (Game 7 if necessary)

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