by Nick Wershing

For almost a year and a half now, Chris Bosh has heard how he doesn’t belong in the big 3 alongside LeBron and D-Wade. Well, what are people saying now? With Bosh out for the rest of the Heat’s series versus the Pacers, if not the rest of the playoffs, we will now see if it is indeed the big 3. Before last night’s game 2, TNT showed a stat that said the Heat were 4-5 without Bosh this year. The announcers went on to say this was a misleading stat though. Now I’m not so sure.

The Heat only managed 75 points last night, while the team averaged 98.5 ppg during the regular season. Bosh has arguably one of the nicest mid-range jumpers in the league. His 18-footer has bailed the Heat out of many bad possessions. He may not be the physical specimen that Bron-Bron is, and he may not have the slashing ability of Wade, but he plays great defense, he is a consistent shooter, and he grabs rebounds. The defense and rebounds are the biggest loss in these playoffs. Roy Hibbert was dominating the boards starting last night, and without Bosh, they are left with a sub-par group of players to guard the all-star big, made up of Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony, and Ronny Turiaf. None are on par with Bosh defensively; not to mention anywhere close to him offensively.

Bosh is no doubt the “smallest” of the “Big 3”, but I think he is the most important. I have already explained what the Heat lose when Bosh goes down, and it was evident last night. But if LeBron or D-Wade gets injured, it’s a different story. Unlike when Bosh was out, when one of the other two was out, the Heat still have a winning record. Why is this?

James and Wade play a very similar position. They guard relatively the same type of player on defense. They have similar play styles on offense. When one goes down, the other can step into his spot. If the Heat are playing the Hawks, and Lebron had the job of guarding Joe Johnson, and went down, Wade could step in and do the same thing. If one goes down, the other then becomes the surefire centerpiece of the offense, and it erases the question of which should have plays called for him when. Bosh is a different story. Sticking with the Atlanta Hawks as the opponent, Bosh would most likely be guarding Al Horford or Josh Smith, and he should do a very good job of it. But when he goes down, you have to choose how exactly you want to downgrade your post offense. Do you give up more on defense and play Haslem for his shooting? Do you totally give up offense and bring in Anthony for his defense and above-average work ethic? It’s a hard decision, and we will now see how Spoelstra handles it in a series where they play a very good post player in Hibbert.

But the Pacers could be the least of the Heat’s worries. Looking to the future, the Heat face a potential matchup with a very hot Kevin Garnett. After that, they could meet up with Tim Duncan or the two-headed monster of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. A postseason that started as the Heat’s to lose, now sees them as possible underdogs in many of its series – all due to the loss of the third member of the “Big 3”.

Follow Nick Wershing on Twitter: @n_shing