Chris Bosh Flopped Badly, Then Shot 1-of-18
By Jason McIntyre
Chris Bosh’s flop against the Bulls was vintage Vlade Divac in the first half last night. As Carlos Boozer went into his move, Bosh acted as if he were drilled by a Charles Oakley hook or perhaps by a bullet (the flop is in GIF form after the jump). Multiple replays show Bosh was grazed, at best. Then, Bosh proceeded to shoot 1-for-18 – mostly wide open 10-15 foot jumpers – and the Heat lost in Chicago, 93-89.
Miami optimist: Bosh was 1-18, the bench was outscored 22-2 and yet the Heat still had a chance to tie the game in the final 15 seconds (LeBron’s 3 was a brick).
Miami pessimist: The Heat are 0-5 against the Celtics and Bulls, plus 0-2 against the Mavericks. They’re 12-14 against teams that are .500 or better.
Especially after the Kendrick Perkins deal, it’s tough not to like the Bulls chances in the East. Noah and Boozer will have another 25 games together. Tom Thibodeau has plenty of time to find a starting shooting guard. And if Chicago is able to steal the No. 1 seed – just two games back – then it avoids Boston/Miami/New York until the conference finals.
The No. 1 seed is extremely crucial in the East. You get to pummel Indiana in the first round, and then take the Atlanta-Orlando winner, neither of which scares anyone right now. The Hawks are once again ordinary, and the Magic just can’t get it together. If Boston slips to 3rd – the Celtics ran out of gas last night in Denver and caved badly in the 4th quarter – it’ll have to face the Knicks, then Heat. That could be 14 grueling games before facing the quickest point guard in the league and two power forwards who will be relatively fresh, having been injured and missed about 50 games between them.
[GIF via Instant Replay]