Carlos Boozer: Bulls' Forward Needs to Be More of a Factor Against Heat

The Chicago Bulls will take on the Miami Heat in Game 3 of their playoff series on May 10. While the absence of both Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich are significant, there has been one other notable player who has been missing in action in the Bulls rotation as of late—Carlos Boozer.

Boozer had a productive 2012-2013 campaign as he averaged over 16 points and nine rebounds per game and ranked fifth in the league with 44 double-doubles (via NBA.com).

That being said, it should be no surprise that the Bulls play better when he is more involved in the team’s offensive strategy.

Boozer’s solid play continued through the opening round of the playoffs against the Brooklyn Nets.

During that series, Boozer averaged 17.4 points and 10.6 rebounds per contest, including a 17-point, seven-rebound performance in the close-out game.

In addition to that, the Bulls big man shot an efficient 55 percent from the floor, logged 40 minutes per outing and played effectively on the defensive end.

However, in the second round against the Heat, it has been a much different story.

In Game 1, Boozer was a non-factor, scoring just six points on 3-of-11 shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds.

He followed that up with an eight-point, four-rebound performance in Game 2 in just 24 minutes of action.

And not only has his shooting percentage drastically dropped to 30 percent, his presence on the defensive end has been nearly non-existent, something I’m sure Tom Thibodeau is not pleased with.

Per ESPNChicago.com, Bulls’ analyst and former player Stacey King offered the following assessment of Boozer on a recent appearance on ESPN 1000:

"

You have to get Boozer involved. Boozer has to get himself going. And sometimes it's not about scoring. Yeah, the Bulls need his scoring if they're going to win this series. But it's the little, bitty things when your offense game is not going, the hustle plays, the hustle rebounds, the offensive rebounds, the defensive rotation. Those are the things you've got to do, and when you're not scoring, and you're not doing any of those you really can't be on the floor.

"

Perhaps Boozer’s recent struggles have a lot to do with the quickness of the Heat players who are guarding him, and Chicago's inability to get him the ball where he can be most effective.

With Derrick Rose still out, and possibly losing Deng and Hinrich for the rest of the series (via Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago), Boozer will need to get back to playing at a high level if the Bulls are going to get past the Heat.