With Chris Bosh likely to return Miami Heat prepare to take on the brilliant Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals
The Boston Celtics have made a series out of the Eastern Conference Finals by winning games 3 and 4 at their home court. It is now a three game series with the fifth one being played in Miami on Tuesday night.
The Heat are looking forward to the possible return of Chris Bosh in game 5. After missing 9 games of the playoffs, the Heat finally had some news regarding the return of Bosh after weeks of not giving any schedule for his return.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra upgraded Bosh to a day to day decision from here onwards. He might return for game 5, though a final decision will be taken before the game. The return of Bosh could be the boost Miami needs at the moment,
after losing two straight games to Boston.
In the last two games, the Celtics have led for most of the time, and been able to hold off a late charge by Miami to secure the victory.
The Celtics are relying on their core as they do not have a very deep lineup. The majority of the scoring comes from Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. Of the four, Rondo has been making the most trouble for
the Heat.
In game 4, Rondo had 15 points and 15 assists, and scored the final three points of the game to hand Boston the victory. He has stood out as the new leader of the Celtics team this season. Paul Pierce was fouled out in the fourth
quarter of game 4, making it the third time in five games that he has been fouled out.
His absence in crunch time affected the Celtics game, as their scoring options dried up. However, Boston had a good team performance, with six players scoring double digit points including all five starters.
For Miami, LeBron James has been consistent with his game. He was also fouled out in overtime of game 4, the first time he has been fouled out of a playoff game. James needs to be there till the very end to ensure that his team
wins.
But the key for Miami is the return of Chris Bosh. When Bosh was sidelined after suffering a strained abdominal muscle in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semi Finals against the Indiana Pacers, everyone said that Miami might be
able to defeat the Pacers without Chris Bosh but it will be very difficult for them against Boston. And that is what is showing here.
Without Bosh, the Heat are weak in the interior. The Boston defense is not allowing James and Wade the easy looks and a lack of interior presence is limiting their scoring options. On the other hand, Kevin Garnett is free to dominate
the game. He has not been having the same type of performance as he did against the Philadelphia 76ers, but is still causing troubles for the Heat.
Since Bosh arrived in Miami in 2010, the Heat are 116-45 with him in the line-up and 12-11 with him out of the lineup. The stat alone speaks volumes about the impact his absence has had on the Heat’s game. They have done a good
job staying alive in the playoffs till now and his return will heavily tilt the confidence and momentum in their favour.
Coach Erik Spoelstra said that Bosh would also get a say in the final decision regarding him playing.
"He'll get a vote. Again, everything is heightened right now. These are extreme circumstances. Everybody will be involved in the decision, if and when it happens. But you always have to take the player's opinion with a grain of
salt. They all say they're ready. ... He said he was ready 10 days ago” said Spoelstra.
The Celtics know they need to win an away game if they want to tilt the momentum of the series. They are a good away team but Miami are a very strong team on home court, one of the best in the league. It will be an interesting
start to game 5 to see how Miami makes adjustments to Boston’s offense particularly to Rondo.
"No one said it was easy. This is great. This is what the postseason is all about. It's about adversity and ups and downs. Like I said, you never get too high and you never get too low. We look forward to Game 5” said LeBron James.
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