Miami Heat: Can Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh Overcome Struggles vs. Boston?

The Miami Heat without Dwyane Wade were beaten by the Milwaukee Bucks last night, 90-85, falling a half game behind the Boston Celtics for second place in the Eastern Conference. 

In Wade’s absence, LeBron James had to shoulder most of the offensive burden, and led the team with 29 points. 

Heat forward Chris Bosh only added 18 points in the loss, while none of Miami’s other starters managed to score more than six points. 

With the Heat's final regular season meeting with the Boston Celtics set for Sunday, Miami needs its three superstars to carry the others when one or two of them are struggling offensively. 

With the current standings in the East, it's quite possible the Heat will play the Celtics in the second round of the playoffs, where Wade and Bosh’s game will be the key to Miami’s success against the defending Eastern champs. 

LeBron James has performed well statistically against Boston this season, but the same cannot be said for his superstar teammates. 

Wade has struggled mightily versus the Celtics in three games this season, and Bosh has been outplayed by Kevin Garnett. 

Bosh is averaging 18.7ppg, and 8.3rpg this season, but in three games versus the Celtics he is averaging 15.7ppg and 8.3rpg.

While his performances versus Boston are not terribly worse than his season averages, there is a concern with his ability to play well in Boston under playoff pressure. 

The Celtics have been determined to take Dwyane Wade out of his normal game in the three previous meetings this season. So far, they’ve done an excellent job, and it’s been a winning strategy for them. 

Wade is averaging 12.3ppg and 4.6apg against the Celtics this season, compared to his season averages of 25.7ppg and 4.5apg. 

His assists are practically the same, but his scoring is significantly lower. 

In his struggles against the Celtics, it would logical to believe his assists would be higher versus Boston because he’s not scoring well against them. 

Yet his assists averages are almost identical, which means Wade is forcing shots and trying to shoot out of his slumps. This method clearly isn’t working, and it has hurt the Heat in each loss against the Celtics. 

Last season versus Boston in the playoffs, Wade was Miami’s entire offense, and he needed to play perfect for them to win. In game four of last year’s first round, he did play as close to perfect as possible, and it was the only game the Heat won in the series. 

Now that Wade has two capable 20-point scorers by his side, he needs to realize that when he’s not having the offensive success he wants, he has ample help to bail him out.

One of the advantages the Celtics have over the Heat which they’ve exploited to great success in their three meetings is the depth and skill of their frontcourt players.  

Wade and the rest of his team have to realize that for them to beat the Celtics, Chris Bosh needs to play well, and for that to happen he needs to touch the ball in every half-court possession.

The Celtics are fine with letting Wade and James try to beat them. James has lost numerous playoff and regular season games to the Celtics when he records a triple-double, and Wade has struggled when he tries to be the number one scorer. 

When the Celtics struggle in the playoffs, it’s because big men have killed them. When Dwight Howard of the Magic, or Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum of the Lakers have excellent games, the Celtics record is not very good. 

Dwyane Wade’s struggles may continue against the Celtics into the playoffs, and if this is the case, he has to look elsewhere for offense. 

If Wade tries to shoot his way out of his offensive troubles, the Celtics have him right where they want him.

Chris Bosh has complained about the number of touches he's gotten on offense this season, and rightfully so. He has been criticized for his weak play for most of the season after signing a max contract last summer.

Bosh can have success against Boston. He is quicker and more athletic than his Celtics power forward opponents Kevin Garnett and Glen Davis.

But Miami has to get Bosh going early and often, and you can't wait until the second half to do so, because then it's too late.

Bosh is being paid like one of the best players in the league, and it would be a shame for Miami Heat fans if his teammates failed to give him the opportunity to prove his worth this postseason.