Chris Bosh has apologized to his Miami Heat teammates for his poor play against the Indiana Pacers, vowing to play with more aggression in the do-or-die Game 7.
Bosh has been held to single digit scoring in the last three games against the Pacers, the first time he’s been held that low since his rookie year in 2003-04. While he struggles to score, Bosh has apparently pulled his game away from the basket, averaging 2.3 3-pointers per game, up from one during the regular season.
The 6-foot-11 center has been equally ineffective on the defensive end. The Pacers out-rebounded the Heat 53-33 and outscored them 44-22 in the paint in Game 6 , and Pacers center Roy Hibbert finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds.
“It’s hard, it’s difficult,” Bosh said. “Everything you’re going to do in the postseason is difficult. And you’re going to be put in situations you don’t want to be in and you’re going to have to do things that you don’t want to do. It’s part of it, so you might as well get used to it, being miserable and really loving it.”
Bosh said the more he toyed around and tried to do new things, the worse it turned out.
“I changed my game in Games 1-through-6 and it hasn’t really worked,” Bosh said. “I just need to do what I do and just let it all hang out.”
The Heat were once expected to cruise to the NBA finals, but now appear hard-pressed to get past the Pacers. The poor play of Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, both hobbled by injuries, is a major factor.
With poor play from two-thirds of the “Big Three,” LeBron James has been forced to pick up more of the slack. He had 29 points in the Game 6 loss , but no other Heat player scored in double figures.
“He can’t,” Bosh said in reference to James trying to do it all. “It’s never been like that in team sports history. We can’t just sit around and expect LeBron to do all the work and hope that he has a 50-point game. We have to do our part.”
It didn’t help Bosh that the Heat’s other big man was gone in Game 6. Chris “Birdman” Andersen was suspended for pushing Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough.
The Heat likely don’t care that Chris Bosh apologized as long as he shows up for Game 7.
