Chris Bosh was absolutely horrible in game 3. He had just 6 points on 1 of 6 shooting in the Heat's 16 point loss on the road to the Celtics. It was his lowest scoring game all season and he tied his season low for field goals made in a game. Not only did Bosh have a horrible offensive game, but he also had no answer for Kevin Garnett on the other end of the floor. Garnett had arguably his best ever playoff game with 28 points and 18 rebounds. He dominated Bosh down in the post.
Bosh said after his extremely disappointing game 3, "Given all the elements that were out there last night... they [the fans] were so hyped. My emotions got the best of me early on and it kind of dictated what I was doing for the rest of the game. I was not trusting my game. The toughest thing to do in hostile environments is not just to trust your teammates but to trust yourself. Trust things you've been doing all your life... I wasn't relaxing and playing, I play better when I'm just relaxing. I have to take the emotions out and play basketball... There's a bunch of things I could've done better personally to affect the game more and get myself in rhythm. Mistakes teach you more than anything else. Last night's game was a huge teacher."
In the first half of game 4 against the Celtics, Bosh once again looked like he had some jitters. He was just 2 of 8 from the field and only had 5 points and 2 rebounds through the first 24 minutes. The Heat struggled to find a third option outside of Dwayne Wade and LeBron James in the first half because of the struggles of Bosh. Besides Wade and James, no other Heat player had more than 5 points and the three other Heat starters had just 9 points at halftime. Wade and James combined for 34 of the Heat's 50 points in the first half.
In the second half, Bosh finally showed up and began to gain a lot more confidence. He looked much more relaxed on the court in the second half and he wasn't rushing all of his shots. He was 6 of 9 from the floor and had 15 points and 12 rebounds in the final two periods. He also limited Kevin Garnett to 7 points on just 1 of 10 shooting from the field. Garnett's 1 field goal was the least he had in any game this season where he played more than 10 minutes. Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra commented on Bosh's great defense on Garnett by saying after the game, "There’s been so much discussion about Chris and usually it’s revolving around how many points he scores. I continue to remind him he doesn’t have to answer to anyone’s expectations or critics. When he rebounds well, we usually win and when he focuses in on his rebounding and defence and covering ground it works for him.”
With 46 seconds remaining in overtime, LeBron had the ball at the top of the key and he was being defended by Kevin Garnett. Bosh was being guarded by Paul Pierce. When James Jones ran into the left corner, the smaller Ray Allen switched onto Bosh. Chris was able to make a tip-in for the Heat after James missed the jump shot. Bosh was able to position himself for the rebound, as the smaller Allen couldn't box out the much taller Bosh. The huge bucket gave the Heat a 95-90 lead with just 24 seconds remaining in the game. It was the biggest shot of Chris Bosh's career. When the Heat needed a play to seal the game, Bosh came up huge with a big tip-in under pressure.
Chris Bosh's tip-in secured a five point lead for the Heat with just 24 seconds left in overtime
Bosh, James, and Wade had 83 of their team's 98 points and no other Heat player aside from the Big Three had more than 4 points. The effectiveness of Bosh gave the Heat a viable third option to go to when Wade and James needed some help from their teammates. He was a great complement to Wade and James. Bosh came up clutch for the Heat with 5 points in the extra session and was huge in the Heat's victory to take a 3-1 series lead.
was he really cory? was he really?
ReplyDelete