Sunday, December 29, 2013

Chris Bosh Overrules Coach Eric Spoelstra and Goes for the Juggler

In the +Miami HEAT's Saturday night game against the +Portland Trail Blazers, +Damian Lillard 's 3-pointer gave Portland a 32-30 lead and +Robin Lopez added a layup as the first quarter came to a close with Portland leading.

In Q2 Norris Cole's pass to Dwyane Wade sends Wade tearing towards the rim in his, “Here I come,”  Marquette style. He drives with such momentum he hits his target in the rim but then hits the floor hard (36-45). The Trail Blazers stretch the lead when +Dorell Wright's layup is good (34-43). Miami closes the gap but Portland holds a 62-58 advantage at half-time.

Chris Bosh brings a layup and +Rashard Lewis throws a triple to put the Heat up 71-69 in Q3. Portland quickly reclaims the lead, pushing the score to 79-86 on Williams' 3-pointer. The Blazers lead by as many as nine points.

In Q4 the Heat is down 93-96 when Wade passes and 
Bosh hits 3 to tie the score 96-96 with 4 minutes 
remaining in the game. Taking a pass from +Ray Allen Wade makes a tear to the rim 
to tie the score at 98-98. With 2 minutes remaining 
Bosh hits 3 again all net, no rim. Miami takes a lead 
101-98 but the Trail Blazers are in hot pursuit. Wade 
goes to the rim adding 2 with 29 seconds (103-105). 
Wade makes a tear to the rim to drop 2 and tie the 
score at 105-105. Then Wade fouls giving Portland 2 
at the line with 15 seconds left in the game. 

Now there are only 9 seconds and counting. With 7 seconds left in the game Wade races to the rim, but he is not alone. On his trail there is triple defense in hot pursuit. Now, only 4 seconds left in the game. The Heat is down 2 (105-107) the clock is running. Wade runs faster. Defense closes in on Wade, he sees an opening and passes out to Bosh 30 feet outside the rim. The ball goes a little to the right. 

Two Trailblazers race towards Bosh with arms flying. Time is of the essence. Bosh stretches to reach the ball, then with poise, balance and his own unscripted game plan Bosh solidly grounds himself and takes the shot. By the time the Trailblazers reach Bosh he has already set up and released the ball. It flies high in the air towards the rim. The entire Modo Center is on their feet. You can hear a pin drop when the ball drops in, all net no rim. 

From 30 feet Bosh hits a triple to give Miami a lead with a final score of 108-107. That gives Miami its best NBA record of 23-7. +Dwyane Wade +Michael Beasley and +Mario Chalmers contribute 37 points. +Norris Cole and +Udonis Haslem help set the team up for the win. 

+Chris Bosh generally averages 16 points per game. He more than doubled that with 37 points. Bosh generally averages 29 minutes per game but with +LeBron James on the bench with a strained right groin, Bosh covered some of the 36 minutes generally played by LeBron. Coach +ERIC SPOELSTRA played Bosh a total of 39 minutes. 

With 37 points and 39 minutes Bosh nearly averaged 
point a minute. “Bosh, you the man.”