Erik Spoelstra looking to give more playing time to Chris Bosh in game 6 – NBA News
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has said that he will consider starting All Star power forward Chris Bosh in Game 6 against the Boston Celtics on Thursday, but even if he comes off the bench, Bosh will have a lot more role to play
than game 5.
The comment comes ahead of game 6 at Boston, where the Celtics will have a chance to qualify for the NBA Finals. Boston leads the series 3-2 after a crucial away win at Miami in game 5.
Bosh made his comeback in game 5 after missing 9 straight playoff games for Miami. He suffered a strained abdominal muscle in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semi Finals against the Indiana Pacers, and left the game in the middle.
In his comeback game on Tuesday, Bosh did not start for the Heat and played only 14 minutes in the game. He was benched for the entire of the fourth quarter. Bosh finished with 9 points and 7 rebounds.
"I'm still going through that thought process. But I think he'll be able to handle a bigger load of minutes, and it'll be based more on how he'll feel during the game,” said Spoelstra after practice Wednesday.
Bosh played in short stints throughout the game, but seemed comfortable on the court, getting involved in physical play to grab 6 offensive rebounds.
After the game, Bosh said that he felt he could have played more minutes and helped his team close the game after they were leading the Celtics. The Heat ended up losing 94-90. Spoelstra however said that he did not think it was
fair on Bosh to play him extended minutes as it was his first game back and he also feared Bosh aggravating his injury.
Spoelstra’s decision was criticized by many analysts after the Game 5 loss, but defended his decision when speaking to media personnel after Wednesday’s practice.
“Those are the decisions you have to make. And I know after the fact, those can always be second-guessed. But we're treading in kind of new waters right now, and [Bosh] had been out quite a while. But he'll play more tomorrow night,”
said Spoelstra.
Bosh is averaging 18 points and 7.9 rebounds this season for the Miami Heat. Although he was criticized during the regular for not living up to the expectations of the team and underperforming, his absence from the series against
Indiana showed his importance in the team line-up, as Miami lost games 2 and 3 to Indiana.
The Heat were defeated on rebounding and also did not get easy looks, as without an interior presence their game plan was much more predictable. It took sheer excellence from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade over the next three games
for them to win the series, but performances like that can not be expected of both players on a regular basis.
Bosh said that he did feel some soreness after the game, but added that it was normal for a player making a comeback from injury.
Tags: