LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are supposed to be the best “Big Three” in the NBA, and for the most part of the regular season, they were.However, in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, two of the “Big Three” have completely disappeared. When Miami’s stars come to play, the Heat are virtually unbeatable. But when they don’t, the Pacers are the better team in this series.
LeBron James is the best basketball player on the planet, and he could single-handedly beat about a third of the teams in the NBA. But Indiana is a top-notch team, and they give Miami match-up problems across the board.
As good as LBJ is, he NEEDS help from Wade and Bosh.
During the regular season, Wade averaged 21.2 points per game on 52-percent shooting from the floor. Chris Bosh averaged 16.6 points per game on 54-percent shooting. Not only were these they both producing, but they were doing it very efficiently as well.
Let’s flip the script now.
In the postseason, Wade is averaging 14.3 points per game and is only shooting 46% from the floor. Bosh’s scoring averaged has dropped to 13.5 points per game, and he is only shooting 50% from the floor.
Wade and Bosh are scoring 10 points less per game in the postseason than they did in the regular season. The Heat lost Game 2 by four points and Game 4 by seven points.
More importantly for the Heat, though, is Bosh’s lack of rebounding. Bosh, who is listed at 6-11, averaged nearly seven rebounds per game during the regular season. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bostrich is only averaging 3.3 rebounds per game.
Let me repeat that…a guy who is 6-feet, 11-inches tall, is only averaging 3.3 rebounds per game.
Pathetic.
The Heat are getting killed on the glass, and it’s due partly to Indiana’s great rebounders, but mostly because Bosh won’t box out. 3.3 rebounds is unacceptable for him, and unless he steps up and rebounds well the rest of this series, Roy Hibbert and David West will continue to get second-chance points and make the game ten times more difficult for the Heat.
Wade and Bosh aren’t the only Heat players that have struggled this series, though. Shane Battier can’t hit a shot. Ray Allen has struggled to shoot the ball. Mario Chalmers had a solid Game 4 performance, but overall he has been shaky.
It’s been all LeBron.
Did he turn the ball over twice in the final minute of Game 2? Yes. Did he foul-out late in Game 4? Yes. But LBJ was the only reason the Heat were even in those games. LeBron is the best player on the planet, but he can’t beat the Pacers alone. They’re too good.
If Wade, Bosh, and the rest of Miami’s supporting cast steps up, the Heat should win the next two games of this series pretty easily.
But if they continue to struggle, don’t be surprised to see two small market teams playing for the NBA title.
