Pressure falls on Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh after LeBron James left Miami for Cleveland. (GETTY IMAGES)

The decision 2.0 was widely anticipated this summer and LeBron James decided to go home to Cleveland.

Miami Heat president Pat Riley wasted no time adding players, he was signing players in an effort to convince James to stay after they lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.

Josh McRoberts was added before James left and while he is certainly no superstar, he is a serviceable role player who can start at power forward, allowing Bosh to play center. Last season, he averaged 8.3 points per game, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.3 assists for the Charlotte Bobcats who made the playoffs. McRoberts wasn’t the sole reason, but he was part of the reason with his ability to pass to the open man and step outside and hit the outside shot (36% on 3-pointers, and 47.1% in four postseason games). Signing McRoberts means Udonis Haslem will be a backup and given his age, that’s not a bad thing. At 34, Haslem is best suited to playing no more than 18 minutes per game.

They also brought in Luol Deng and while he’s no LeBron, he’s certainly not a bad replacement at all. He’s a solid defender and a capable offensive player who can score enough (15-16 points) to be a nice third option behind Bosh and Wade. He struggled in Cleveland last season after the Bulls traded him there, but he’s still just 29 and should be able to bounce back strong with a better supporting cast than he had with the Cavs. Danny Granger was brought in to add depth and back up Deng. At 31 and having battled injuries the last several seasons, Granger may be just a shadow of the player he used to be — 2011-12 was the last time he showed much, playing in 62 games and averaging 18.7 points. Bringing him off the bench is the best possible situation for him.

If either one of them experience injuries and that’s a definite possibility given their recent history, second round draft pick (50th overall) James Ennis (Long Beach State) will get an opportunity to play. He showed some ability in preseason, scoring 17 points twice in their first six games in limited minutes.

So, now it’s clearly on Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade’s shoulders to carry the burden of a LeBron-less Heat team. Bosh was the main offensive option when he was in Toronto and the Heat will look to him to once again be the man. Bosh, 30, was given a huge contract to stay in South Beach and now expectations will be even bigger after the deal he signed.

In his last season in Toronto, he averaged 24 points and 11 rebounds. It was all the way back in 2009-10, but what is undeniable is Bosh is a better offensive player now than he was back then. He has improved his outside shooting (he made 33.9% of his 3-pointers last season) and while he probably won’t come close to 24 points, he should be able to average 20 points and 8 rebounds. His rebounds should increase (career-low 6.6 last season) without James around to help clean the backboard. Chris Andersen was brought back to be a reserve and provide about 14-15 minutes of energy off the bench to keep Bosh rested. Justin Hamilton played in just eight games last season with the Heat and Bobcats and is a long-term project, if he makes the final cuts.

Wade will be the second option on offense and with James gone, he may also take over more of the ball-handling duties, just like he had before James came to Miami. Wade averaged 6.5 assists the season before James arrived and his assist numbers should go back up. The question is, can Wade stay healthy?

And it’s a fair question since he’s averaged just 54 games over the last three seasons. IF healthy, Wade should be back close to the old Wade, say maybe 18 points, 6 assists and 4-5 rebounds. Shannon Brown had a lost season playing in just 29 games with the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs, but he gives the Heat a veteran backup for Wade.

Mario Chalmers returns and will start, but his tenure will be challenged by rookie Shabazz Napier and Norris Cole. Cole has teased Miami for three seasons, but Chalmers struggled in the playoffs last season and Cole may be finally ready to take his job. Napier is the Johnny-come-lately who will try and show he can make the jump from college to the pros.

Outlook

The Heat clearly won’t be the same team they were with Lebron, but they aren’t exactly devoid of talent either. Losing the best player on the planet won’t send this team into a tailspin, I think they’ll win about 45-48 games and be a top 5 team in the East. It’s on Bosh and Wade to step up and lead the way. And we’ll see what head coach Erik Spoelstra has learned from Riles.

Darren Jacks is a contributing writer for OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @djroxalot.

Danny Green and Gregg Popovich enjoyed a 36-point blowout win in Game 3. (GETTY IMAGES)

The Miami Heat didn’t just lose a game Tuesday night, they were annihilated. They got punched so hard on the chin they fell flat on their face like Manny Pacquiao in the fourth fight against Juan Manuel Marquez.

The Spurs rained three after three after three on the Heat and finished with a NBA Finals record 16 3-pointers to knock out the defending NBA champs 113-77 in Game 3. The 36-point destruction was the third-largest margin of victory in The Finals.

‘We got what we deserved,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ”[The Spurs] played with more force and more focus. They outplayed us and outclassed us from the very tip. I didn’t even recognize the team that was out there.”

Since the 2-3-2 format was employed in the NBA Finals, when the series is tied 1-1 the winner of Game 3 went on to win the series 12 out of 13 times. That’s good news for the Spurs and bad news for the Heat.

The Heat have done a decent job on the Spurs’ Big 3 of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili, but they’ve fallen asleep on some of the San Antonio role players. While the Heat continue to load up on Parker and Ginobili on every pick-and-roll, the Spurs counter with ball movement. And the ball kept finding snipers Danny Green and Gary Neal.

“We had some instances where we didn’t close on shooters. Neal and Green lit us up pretty good tonight,” Heat forward Chris Bosh said. “I think they were comfortable all game. I think that was pretty obvious when you look at the stat sheet.”

Let’s look at the stat sheet, shall we.

Green, LeBron James’ former teammate and dance partner in Cleveland and cut three times before finally landing a full-time gig with the Spurs, buried seven of his nine 3-point attempts and had a game-high 27 points. Green is 16-for-23 from 3-point range in the 2013 Finals and arguably the front-runner for the MVP.

“All of my teammates and Pop. They do a great job of encouraging me. They continue to tell me to shoot the ball. They continue to tell me whenever I’m open, to let it fly,” Green said.

Neal, an undrafted guard out of Towson State, could have easily been the player of the game. He started the game hot and finished the half with a buzzer-beater 3-pointer that pushed the San Antonio lead to six. From that point on, it was all Spurs and the Heat never got close.

Neal was 6-for-10 from behind the 3-point line, and made the Heat pay whenever they left him open.

“The way the Heat have been playing, with Tony and Manu, they’re trying to trap the pick-and-roll. So guys like me, Danny, and Kawhi [Leonard] we’re gonna get some shots,” said Neal, who finished with 24 points in only his third game playing in the NBA Finals. “You just have to come out and be aggressive and have that mindset that we have to attack.”

“It’s part of the system, but one thing that stood out was that our ball movement was better,” Neal said. “When we’re able to attack close-outs it kinda gives us an advantage.”

“Throughout the course of the season I’ve always been aggressive,” Neal said. “That’s how I’ve always played. When I’m making shots that’s another component the other team has to game plan for.”

“He’s a professional. He’s a quality individual and he made himself ready,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said about Neal, who played three years in Europe before signing with San Antonio in 2010.

Bosh summed it up best. He said the Heat were a step slow in Game 3 and took it on the chin. Get the smelling salts out.

The Miami Heat need Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade to find their shooting touch to avoid playoff elimination against the Indiana Pacers. (GETTY IMAGES)

Dwyane Wade is sick and tired of talking about his balky right knee, so bringing it up won’t ease his pain.

“I’ve been talking about it for two months. I ain’t got nothing else to say,” the nine-time All-Star guard said about the bone bruise that has grounded him for much of the season.

The Miami Heat are in a dogfight with the Indiana Pacers in the 2013 Eastern Conference finals mainly because Wade hasn’t been himself. The explosion is simply not there. His jump shot has failed him time and time again; he’s seen his floaters sent back in his face, and he has very little lift on his forays to the basket.

Wade has hit the 20-point mark only once this postseason. He’s shooting 44 percent (34-for-77) from the field and averaging 14.5 points against the Pacers. That’s well below his season (21.2) and career scoring averages (24.7).

The 31-year-old two-time NBA champion, who used to be known as the Flash for his lightning-quick moves, has been reduced to a mere mortal and may be starting to see hot flashes.

“Right now he’s giving us what he’s got,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said about Wade, who re-aggravated his ailing knee when he bumped knees with Jimmy Butler during the Heat-Bulls series.

“Physically we know what he’s going through right now,” Spoelstra said, “and for him to be out there competing and giving us what he’s got I have incredible respect for him as a professional athlete, especially now that the spotlight is on him.”

But Wade is not the only Heat star in a major slump.

Chris Bosh has been missing in action, too. His much anticipated battle with Pacers center Roy Hibbert has been a complete mismatch, with Bosh getting whipped like Chael Sonnen against Jon Jones in UFC 159. In his last three games, Bosh is 4-for-21 from the field and outscored by Hibbert 137-68.

“This is the part when you have to be mentally tough. Things haven’t been going my way this series. I want to play better, and I have to play better in Game 7. It’s as simple as that,” said Bosh, who scored a career playoff low five points on 1-for-8 shooting from the field in Game 6 in Indiana.

“We missed a lot of point-blank shots. We missed three layups by ourselves. I missed 18-footers,” Bosh continued. “It’s just a part of the game. We’re gonna have to find a way. It all comes down to one game. It’s great that it’s on our home court. As much as this sucks we just have to put it behind us and move on to Game 7. We have to make shots, we have to play better. There’s not much I can say. I’m just really disappointed in myself.”

So what can Wade and Bosh do differently to help the Heat from avoiding elimination? The answer falls on the shoulders of Spoelstra and four-time NBA MVP LeBron James.

“If anything it’s on me. I gotta find ways to get those guys comfortable in areas where they can be aggressive. And that’ll be my focus in the next 48 hours,” Spoelstra said. “Obviously they are a major part of what we do and I need to find ways and get them in places where they can be really aggressive. Now in Game 7s and games when your backs are against the wall, I know those two men’s characters and this is when they come up big in these moments.”

As for James, the ball will be in his hands for Game 7 so it is up to him to make sure Wade and Bosh get their touches and find them easy shots to get them going.

“They’re two great players. When they don’t shoot well or play well it is more on them,” James said. “Not taking any credit away from Indiana’s defense, but Dwyane and Chris has seen every defense that’s been applied to them in 10 years and they’ve been able to figure it out. This one is just taking a little bit longer.”

Expect Wade to be more aggressive in Game 7, as he’s known to rise to the occasion when the stakes are high. Wade has been doubted all his career, from the moment he got drafted to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 2006 playoffs. He has been picking his spots during these playoffs and all it takes in one brilliant game to erase a forgettable series. Sometimes all it takes is one jumper to fall for Wade to find his rhythm, but he has to be more aggressive. He needs more movement and activity.

The same goes for Bosh.

The best way to bust out of a slump is to keep shooting. Bosh can’t turn down open looks. The Pacers are daring him to shoot threes because they are banking on the fact he won’t make more than two a game. If Bosh makes more than two in Game 7, the Heat could roll to a comfortable victory.

“Chris is struggling with his shot and him hurting his ankle didn’t help him a lot as well. But I think he will find it,” James said. “It’s my job as a leader to keep him motivated to let him know how important he is to our movement to our chances of returning to The Finals.”

Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh have lost five of their last eight games. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The Miami Heat have hit a rough patch in their title defense. LeBron James and Co. have lost five of their last eight games, the most recent one to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Despite leading by as much as 13 points, the Heat somehow let the Blazers hang around and eventually pull out a 92-90 come-from-behind win Thursday night in Portland.  Wesley Matthews made a 3-pointer to tie it at 88 with just under a minute to go, and after a Chris Bosh dunk Matthews hit another three to finally give the Blazers a 91-90 lead. LaMarcus Aldridge missed the first of two free throws with 10.4 seconds left for the final margin.

Nicolas Batum led the Blazers with 28 points, and Aldridge had 20 points and 15 rebounds. Matthews finished with 18 points. The Blazers held LeBron James to 15 points, snapping his 54-game streak with at least 20 points that dated back to last season.

Bosh had 29 points for the Eastern Conference-leading Heat, who dropped their second straight game.

The Heat went into the game ranked second-to-last in the NBA with an average of 39 rebounds a game. Against the Blazers they had 45. In the loss to Indiana in Jan. 8, Miami got outrebounded 55-36. And in a Jan. 4 loss to Chicago, Miami was outrebounded 48-28. Teams are beginning to figure that the best way to neutralize Miami’s explosive offense to keep them occupied on the boards. The one glaring weakness of the Heat is their lack of size up front. Bosh is a power forward playing center and James, who normally plays the wing, has dropped down to power forward for most of the season.

If Miami is going to repeat as NBA champs, the team must address its rebounding problems. To borrow a phrase from Pat Riley, “no rebounds, no rings.”

If Miami continues to struggle to rebound the ball, Alonzo Mourning may be forced to come out retirement.

The Heat are 0-2 on a current six-game road trip, and dropped to 7-8 overall away from American Airlines Arena. Portland was coming off a 125-119, overtime win over Orlando at the Rose Garden on Monday night.

Damian Lillard, the reigning repeat NBA Rookie of the Month, had 10 points and eight assists and became the first NBA player to make at least 75 3-pointers in his first 35 career games since Allen Iverson in 1996-97.

Dwyane Wade has informed USA Basketball that he will not participate in the Summer Games in London. (GETTY IMAGES)

The once robust Team USA roster got thinner this week as Miami Heat teammates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh both announced they’ll miss the Summer Olympics in London due to injuries.

Wade withdrew his name from the player pool for the U.S. Olympic basketball team on Thursday because his injured left knee will require surgery.

“As many people may know, throughout the season, I struggled with a recurring knee issue,” Wade said in a statement. “After the championship game, I visited with my doctors for a round of comprehensive medical tests, and the recent results dictate the need for surgery.

“While every part of me wants to be in London, I need to take this time to do what’s best to improve my health and allow me to continue to play the game I love.”

Bosh informed USA Basketball president Jerry Colangelo and head coach Mike Krzyzewski Friday that he won’t play in London because he is still recovering from the strained abdominal muscle that sidelined him for a portion of Miami’s run to the NBA championship.

Chris Bosh won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

“I am extremely disappointed to say that due to injury, I cannot represent my country in the 2012 Olympics in London,” Bosh said. “The abdominal injury that I suffered in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals is not fully healed. After the Finals, I met with my doctors to determine the best course of action, with the full intent to play in the Olympics. From those meetings, I was advised that rest and additional rehab of my abdominal injury will be necessary in order to avoid the development of a chronic injury.

“Having enjoyed the honor of representing my country in the 2008 Olympics, when we won the gold medal, I wanted to be part of that experience again.  However, I must follow my doctors’ advice and properly take care of this injury. My thoughts will be with our guys in London in August and I am confident that Coach K and the USA Basketball staff will bring home the gold again to the USA.”

LeBron James celebrates his first NBA championship after nine seasons. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

We all remember our first times. Our first bike ride. Our first day at school. Our first kiss. Our first date. Our first car. Our first job. We never forget those first-time moments.

For LeBron James, June 21, 2012, will be a date that will live in his mind forever. The three-time NBA MVP and regarded as the best basketball player in the world can finally add another title to his resume — champion.

“It’s about damn time,” said the man who goes by the nickname King James.

It happened Thursday night in Miami as the Heat crushed the Oklahoma City Thunder, 121-106. After nine seasons, two epic failures in The Finals, and a ton of criticism for leaving Cleveland in 2010, James finally walked off the court as a member of the best team in the league.

“It’s everything and more. I dreamed about this moment, this opportunity, for a long time. Including last night, including today. My dream has become a reality now. Best feeling I’ve ever had,” said James, who was named The Finals MVP. He averaged 28 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in five games.

LeBron capped off his historic playoff run with a game for the ages. In the series clincher against OKC, James posted a triple-double with 26 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists. He joined Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, James Worthy, and Tim Duncan as the only ones to accomplish that feat.

Even though the Heat — which also boasts All-Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh — have had arguably the best team in the NBA the last two seasons they were the most scrutinized team in the world and LeBron was the most vilified player in the league. But last year’s embarrassing loss to Dallas in The Finals, where he had numerous fourth-quarter meltdowns, taught LeBron a real important lesson.

“It took me to hit rock bottom before I knew what I needed to do,” he said. “I’m must happy to be put back in this position. I trusted my instincts, I trusted my habits that I’ve built over [nine years]. I just got back to being myself. I didn’t care too much what anyone said about me. Just kinda make my own path, but do it the right way.”

“The best thing that happened to me last year was lose in The Finals,” LeBron admitted. “For me, playing the way I played, it was the best thing that happened to me in my career. Because basically I got back to the basics. It humbled me and I knew what it was going to have to take. I was going to have to change as a basketball player and I was going to have to change as a person to get what I wanted.”

Bosh said nobody can completely comprehend what LeBron and the Heat went through last season unless you were there with the team when it lost in the 2011 NBA Finals.

“Nobody can understand what he went through, since the moment we came here. You know we’ve made decisions, good and bad, but throughout everything he deserves so much credit,” Bosh said of James, who was labeled a “choker” and accused of “shrinking” in the big games.

“He got back to being himself. I told him ‘Being yourself is good enough, you don’t have to prove anything to anybody. Play this game that you love, and everything will take care of itself.’ I don’t know if he really heard me, but I hope he took it to heart. I has worked out pretty well,” Bosh said.

“After last year we had a conversation, and we talked during the summer,” Bosh continued. “I asked him ‘What have you been doing? How are you?’ He pretty much said he hadn’t come out of his house.”

“I think it did that to all of us,” Bosh said of last year’s loss to Dallas. “We didn’t see the light of day because it hurt so much. Just to see the perseverance that he’s had and to witness everyday, day in and day out, his transgression as a leader and his will to win has been incredible. I mean just the playoff run that he’s had I’m just really proud to call myself a teammate of his.”

“It has been unbelievable to witness.”

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

Kevin Durant got into foul trouble again guarding LeBron James in Game 3. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

There is nothing like home sweet home. After gaining a split in Oklahoma City, the Miami Heat took advantage of an energized American Airlines Arena crowd to win Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

The Heat rallied from a third-quarter deficit and pulled out a 91-85 victory Sunday night to take a 2-1 series lead against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Here are a few observations from Game 3:

DON’T FOUL 3-POINT SHOOTERS!

The last 15 minutes of the second half wasn’t OKC’s finest moment and the pressure of the NBA Finals may be finally catching up to Scott Brooks’ young squad. The Thunder blew a nine-point lead in a three-minute span in the third quarter with two boneheaded plays fouling 3-point shooters. Within a matter of seconds, the Heat were able to cut the deficit to three thanks to six free throws by Shane Battier and James Jones. So, instead taking a lead into the fourth, the Thunder got outscored 15-3 down the stretch in the third and trailed by two entering the fourth.

MORE THUNDER MELTDOWN

After Russell Westbrook cut the Heat lead to 86-85 with 1:30 left in the fourth quarter, the Thunder never scored again and committed some costly gaffes. The worst one was James Harden fouling LeBron James with 16 seconds left when the Miami lead was just three and there was a six-second difference in the game clock that would have given OKC another possession with just one defensive stop. After James made it a four-point game, Thabo Sefolosha and Westbrook had a miscommunication on an inbounds play that led to a turnover.

FOUL TROUBLE FOR DURANT

For the second consecutive game Kevin Durant was in foul trouble. He picked up five fouls in Game 3, but only two of them were legit. Three times Durant was whistled for fouls on LeBron that could have easily been non-calls. Instead, Durant had to taper his aggressiveness and couldn’t play his normal game. Guarding LeBron is hard enough, but when the officials are going to call cheap fouls on Durant it is almost impossible to stop LeBron from scoring.

MIAMI SMALL BALL CAUSES BIG ISSUES

Despite starting two small forwards and a power forward at center, the Heat outrebounded the Thunder 45-38. James had a team-best 14 rebounds playing the big forward spot, while Chris Bosh grabbed 11 rebounds as the starting center. “We don’t necessary feel that we’re small. Everybody calls it small ball, ” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We have two forwards, but neither one of them is a power forward and one of them is as big as anybody. Chris is as long as any center. We look at the benefits of the flip side. You gotta make decisions against us. Our versatility may seem unconventional we think it’s one of our greatest strengths.” What the small lineup does for Miami is keep Serge Ibaka from patrolling the paint. Ibaka has been matched up with Shane Battier out in the perimeter, negating his effectiveness and forcing Brooks to match the Heat’s “small ball” with his own brand of “small ball.” Instead of playing a conventional lineup Brooks sits two of his three bigs, which plays right into Miami’s hands.

TEMPO, TEMPO, TEMPO

Since Game 1 when OKC ran circles around Miami to the tune of 24-4 in fastbreak points, the Heat have been able to play at their pace and control the Thunder speed. Spoelstra has been preaching “imposing their will” on the Thunder and taking away their air space. Having Bosh in the starting lineup really helps the Heat control the boards. He had 15 rebounds in Game 2 and had 11 more in Game 3, and that allows the Heat to set up their defense and keep the Thunder from running wild on the break. Westbrook is the one player the Heat have really attacked defensively. Westbrook nearly had a triple-double in Game 1, but the Heat have adjusted their defense and is making Westbrook more of a playmaker than a scorer, which he struggles with at times. Westbrook was so disjointed and out of sync in the third quarter Sunday that Brooks had no choice but to sit him for the last five minutes of the quarter, allowing the Heat to rally. For the Thunder to pick up the pace, Westbrook needs to push the ball harder and make the Heat scramble by attacking the paint and not settle for jump shots.

Dwyane Wade (right) attacks Kendrick Perkins in the second half of Game 2 of the NBA Finals in Oklahoma City. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The Miami Heat avoided a 0-2 hole after holding off the hard-charging Oklahoma City Thunder, 100-96, Thursday night in Game 2 of the 2012 NBA Finals. The series now heads to South Beach for games 3, 4, and 5.

Here are a few observations from Game 2:

HEAT USES THE FORCE

Erik Spoelstra talked about playing with more force after his Heat got hammered in Game 1. It was straight out of the Pat Riley book of coaching and the Heat responded by imposing their will on the Thunder. By inserting Chris Bosh — who hasn’t started since Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals — in the starting lineup the Heat played a more conventional lineup and were able to turn the tables on the Thunder in the rebounding department. After getting outrebounded 43-34 in Game 1, the Heat outrebounded the Thunder 40-36 thanks to Bosh’s 15 rebounds — seven on the offensive end — in 40 minutes. “We needed every bit of his big tonight,” Spoelstra said of Bosh.

SLOW STARTS NOT OK IN OKC

The Thunder have outscored the Heat in six of the eight quarters played, but the first quarters have been their Achilles’ heel. Oklahoma City got down 29-22 in Game 1 and it happened again in Game 2 as the Heat surged to a 27-15 lead in the first quarter and led wire-to-wire. “Two games in a row the first quarter let us down,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “It’s tough to come back when you’re down 17. I told the guys we’re a much better team to be down 17.” The Heat are too good of a team to be given a cushion every game, and Brooks better figure out how to get his team going early.

BATTIER ON A ROLL

Shane Battier is probably not on the Thunder scouting report because he has been wide open all series. In two games, the Heat forward has 34 points on 9-for-13 from 3-point range, including a key bank-shot trey in Game 2. This is the same guy who struggled to find the rim in the first two rounds of the playoffs, now he can’t seem to miss. Oklahoma City may have to start staying home on Battier because he is locked in and has provided a much-needed scoring punch from the outside, allowing LeBron James and Dwyane Wade more room to operate in the painted area.

DID LEBRON FOUL DURANT?

The conspiracy theorists are running rampant after some questionable calls Thursday night. The biggest one was the noncall on LeBron James when he appeared to foul Kevin Durant on his baseline jumper with seven seconds left in the game and the Thunder down by only two. Replays showed that Durant was thrown offbalance after James gave him a nudge on his shot attempt. When Durant was asked about it during his postgame press conference, he shrugged it off, didn’t use it as an excuse, and said: “I missed the shot, man.”

LEBRON CLUTCHES UP

We all quickly pounce on LeBron when he shrinks in the fourth quarter, but we should also highlight his brilliance when it deserves it. James made some clutch baskets late in the game, including an offbalance bank shot with the clock winding down that put the Heat up four and two free throws with seven seconds left to ice the game. LeBron had another monster game overall, scoring 32 points and grabbing eight rebounds in 42 minutes. He was also a perfect 12-for-12 from the free throw line. James also dug deep defensively, matching up with Durant for most of the game.

FLASHBACK

Dwyane Wade’s demise has been greatly exaggerated. “One day it’ll happen. Father Time will knock on the door and tap me on the shoulder. But not right now,” Wade said. The 2006 Finals MVP looked like the D-Wade of old, scoring 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting, and had seven in the first quarter. When Wade is in attack mode, like he was Thursday night, the Heat are a different team. He didn’t settle for jumpers and did most of his damage in the paint. In the fourth, he scored a tough floater and set up Bosh for a big-time dunk with under a minute left.

Chris Bosh scores 19 points and had three 3-pointers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Anyone who thinks the Miami Heat can win a championship without Chris Bosh needs to have their heads examined. Bosh may be the Joker, or the wild card, in Miami’s Batman and Robin dynamic but his presence was the biggest reason why the Heat are advancing to the NBA Finals.

Bosh scored 19 points in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals in Miami — only his third game back since an abdominal injuring sidelined him for weeks — and Miami got a huge lift from his career playoff best three 3-pointers. His final 3-pointer came with 7:19 left in the fourth quarter with the Heat up by only a point, 83-82. He took a pass from LeBron James and knocked one down from the corner, a backbreaking trey that sparked an 18-6 run by the Heat en route to a 101-88 victory.

“It was big time. Every shot, every defensive play, every defensive rebound,  his energy, and his effort. We missed him. Happy to have him back at the right time,” James said of his teammate, who was 8-for-10 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds in 31 minutes off the bench.

“If it weren’t for [Bosh], who stepped up and made some plays, we wouldn’t have won this game,” added James, who led the Heat with 31 points despite shooting just 9-for-21 from the field. James, Bosh and Dwyane Wade (23 points) scored all 28 points for Miami in the fourth quarter.

“That was the biggest challenge I’ve ever had in my life,” Bosh said. “To make sure that I say ready so when the time did come I’ll be able to contribute instead of trying to get my legs under me and being a non-factor.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra inserted Bosh back in the lineup for Game 5, but played just 14 minutes because Spoelstra thought it wouln’t “be fair” to Bosh to throw him into the fire after dealing with a serious injury. Bosh said he felt fine and could have played more minutes. Spoelstra rewarded his big man in the next two games by increasing his playing time.

In Game 7 Saturday night, Spoelstra called Bosh the Heat’s “most important player” because he not only occupied Kevin Garnett on offense but his length made it tougher for the Celtics to get rebounds and easy looks at the basket.

“I thought about it everyday,” Bosh said. “I worked hard with the coaching staff and the doctors, and trainers and we relentlessly worked everyday.”

Bosh’s big-time game in the series clincher is a great sign for the Heat because they will need their All-Star forward to be at his absolute best in the NBA Finals against a very long and talented Oklahoma City Thunder squad.

Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh is out indefinitely with a lower abdominal strain. (GETTY IMAGES)

The road to the NBA Finals got a little harder for the Miami Heat when All-Star forward Chris Bosh was diagnosed with a lower abdominal strain that will keep him sidelined indefinitely.

Bosh suffered the injury after driving to the basket in the first quarter of Sunday’s Eastern Conference semifinals opening game against the Indiana Pacers. Bosh dunked over Roy Hibbert but grimaced in pain. After making a free throw Bosh tried to play through the injury but eventually had to leave the court.

“We’re taking it day by day. It’s not the worst thing that could have happened so that was good news. We started treatments and everything, we’ll see how my body responds,” said Bosh, who averaged 18 points and nearly eight rebounds during the regular season.

Shaquille O’Neal had a similar abdominal injury in 1999 and he missed 21 games. San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili also had the same injury and he missed two weeks.

Bosh’s value to the Heat extends beyond scoring, as he normally guards the opposing team’s best big man late in games and is Miami’s best frontcourt player. He missed nine games during the regular season and the Heat — a team that averages 100 points per game — went 4-5 and averaged 87 points during his absence.

With Bosh out of the lineup, the scoring load falls heavily on three-time NBA MVP LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. The duo combined for 61 of Miami’s 95 points Sunday, so expect more of the same for the rest of the Heat-Pacers series.

“Obviously, it could have been much worse,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We do not have a timetable on him, so we’re moving forward with the guys that’ll be ready.

“We feel this team was built with a great deal of versatility. That was one of our strengths and it’ll also be an opportunity for someone to step forward.”

Joel Anthony, who began the season as the Heat’s starting center, is expected to fill in for Bosh and be paired forward Udonis Haslem in the frontcourt. Ronny Turiaf is also expected to see significant playing time at center and power forward.

For most of the fourth quarter in Game 1 against the Pacers, Spoelstra had Anthony at center and James at power forward to go along with Dwyane Wade, Mike Miller and Shane Battier.

“It’s the playoffs, and there’s no excuses for anybody. I mean the Bulls lost their MVP,” James said. ‘A lot of teams got injuries. We look forward to the challenge.”