Heat vs. Thunder: Breaking Down James Harden and Chris Bosh's Impact on Finals

You know, James Harden and Chris Bosh are important, too. 

By now, you've probably been sold on the fact that the two-on-two matchup of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook vs. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade will determine the next NBA champion.

But don't forget, those duos are both just two-thirds of a Big Three. For the most part, we know what kind of impact the first four players will have.

Harden and Bosh, the forgotten third piece in each team's Big Three, however, have the potential to make or break this series. Let's take a further look why. 

James Harden

Harden is such an intriguing player because of his ability to play either shooting guard or point guard. In fact, even though he's usually listed a 2-guard, I like him much better with the ball in his hands.

Besides a Serge Ibaka cut, a Harden jumper and a Durant jumper (all which tend to be open shots), Oklahoma City's most effective offense, in terms of points per play, is when Harden is in isolation or when Harden runs the pick-and-roll (via hickory-high.com).

The Beard is secretly an incredibly efficient point guard, and if Dwyane Wade attempts to take Russell Westbrook out of the game, I like Harden on offense against a smaller Mario Chalmers

Against the Heat during the regular season, he averaged 5.5 assists per game and shot 61 percent from the field. 

E-ffec-tive. 

And it's not like he's just efficient running the offense, either. Last series against the Spurs, Harden shot a ridiculous 61 percent from three-point range. He hit 2.3 long balls per game and made 13 of his 20 three-pointers from above the break (non-corner). 

Those numbers just aren't supposed to happen.

If the Heat concentrate on stopping Durant and Westbrook, Harden has the ability to destroy their defense at an unfair rate. In fact, his 1.11 points per play suggest he's even more effective than Westbrook (0.92 ppp).

Chris Bosh

People forget to realize that the Heat managed to make it through a large portion of the playoffs without Chris Bosh.

He's not essential for the Heat to have success, but he adds an incredibly important dimension, as he proved in Game 7 against the Celtics with19 points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes.

When Dwyane Wade and LeBron James have a legitimate third option on offense, the Heat are a different animal on offense.

And that's where Bosh will be incredibly key against the Thunder. 

Oklahoma City has some terrific rim defenders in Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins. Those two are going to make life tough on Wade and James, who like to make a living on offense by driving to the hoop.

Enter Bosh, who has the mid-range game to pull one of those defenders away from the basket. Besides dunks and layups, Bosh uses the mid-range game far more than anything else. During the regular season, he made 152 shots from mid-range and just 51 from inside the key (and outside the restricted area). 

Heck, Bosh can even extend out to the three-point line.

Tim Duncan has a similar game, but he either wasn't knocking down or wasn't taking the open jumpers against Oklahoma City. Because of that, the Thunder were able to sag off Duncan and clog the lane, which give the Spurs problems. 

It will be up to Bosh to open things up on the offensive end.

During the regular season, Bosh averaged just 15.0 points on 40 percent shooting, 5.5 rebounds, and a -10.5 plus/minus rating. He is going to have to step his game up in a big way if he wants to take home his first ring.

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