Can Chris Bosh Come off the Bench and Be Miami's James Harden?

Chris Bosh did his best James Harden impression in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, coming off the bench for head coach Erik Spoelstra and even hitting a trio of three-pointers in the process.

Who said power forwards can't drop a few bombs from long range?

The 6'11" big man has always had an exceptionally accurate jumper, but he attempted just 35 treys over the course of the regular season. After his timely attempts in Game 7, he just might take a few more in these NBA Finals.

With the opportunity to focus on scoring, Bosh made 8-of-10 field-goal attempts and added eight rebounds in his 31 minutes of playing time. He looked healthy, but more importantly, he looked comfortable.

Like Harden, Bosh is clearly good enough to start on virtually any team in the league. Whereas the younger Harden has All-Star potential written all over him, Bosh has actually been there and done that. But, that doesn't mean the starting lineup is the best place for him at this very moment.

From LeBron James' perspective, keeping Bosh on the bench is at least a plausible option (via the Boston Herald's Shandel Richardson):

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"We’ve played some good ball," forward LeBron James said of the past three games. "It doesn’t matter who starts or who finishes the game. James Harden doesn’t start, but he’s always on the court at the end of the game. (Dallas Mavericks guard) Jason Terry doesn’t start, but last year in the Finals he was in the fourth quarter every game. ... It doesn’t matter who starts, or finishes the game, it’s who is being productive. That’s what it all boils down to."

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The mere presence of James and Dwyane Wade gives Miami quite possibly the best starting lineup in the league.

Say what you will about the mediocre supporting cast that rounds out that lineup, but James and Wade are more than capable of matching what five mere mortals can produce on a nightly basis. That doesn't necessarily make Bosh superfluous—it just gives Spoelstra some flexibility when determining how best to deploy his best assets.

As tempting as it is to leave such a talented player in the starting lineup, there's a good case to be made that he's even more valuable on the bench.

On the one hand, allowing LeBron and Wade to dominate the basketball throughout most of the first quarter may give them a better opportunity to find their rhythms sooner rather than later. For a couple of guys capable of dropping a combined 70 points on any given night, that's not a bad thing.

On the other hand, a sixth-man role also affords Bosh the liberty to be the shoot-first scorer that made him such a lethal presence in Toronto. It's not that he can't share the ball, but it's just that he's better off when he doesn't have to worry about doing so.

Just as Miami's first and second options should benefit from the early opportunity to take over games, so too should Bosh have an easier time getting into the flow of a game without having to defer to the club's alpha dogs.

That's a plus for Bosh, but it's even more important for Miami's bench, a unit that's better suited to playing limited roles and spotting up for jumpers than it is providing a scoring jolt.

In Oklahoma City, the arrangement has worked out pretty well for both Harden and the rest of the Thunder. Just as Harden finds himself finishing games despite coming off the bench, Bosh should remain part of the fourth-quarter unit as well.

The Heat could find themselves with an extra edge by giving those Thunder a taste of their own sixth-man medicine.