SAN ANTONIO — Perhaps Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was a prophet.
Asked on Saturday about the 3-point shot and its impact on the NBA, Popovich said, bluntly, “I hate it. To me it’s not basketball, but you gotta use it. If you don’t use it, you’re in big trouble. But you sort of feel like it’s cheating.”
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He probably doesn’t like the 3-pointer much more now, after a Game 2 in which his Spurs certainly benefited from the shot (12-for-26), but ultimately were foiled by a corner 3 from Heat big man Chris Bosh with 1:18 left to play. That shot put the Heat up by a point, a lead the team would not relinquish on its way to a 98-96 victory that evens this Finals series, at 1-1.
That was the capper on an 18-point night from Bosh, his fifth straight game with at least 18 points. In that span, he has averaged 21.2 points on 56.5 percent shooting, including 52.6 percent from the 3-point line.
“Look, he is arguably our most important player,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Bosh. “We’ve said that now for four years. And it’s not just because of that shot. That’s what everybody notices, and if he’s not getting the normal opportunities and he’s not scoring, or he doesn’t have the big rebound numbers, it seems from the outside everybody is so critical of his game. But for us, he has a lot on his plate.”
Spoelstra cited Bosh’s defensive consistency, his passing ability and his versatility as some of his big assets that don’t always show up in the box score. Increasingly important, though, has been his rise as a 3-point shooter, a necessity when it comes to creating space for fellow Miami stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, and taking advantage of the resulting mismatches.
On the 3-pointer that gave Miami the lead, Bosh was being guarded by Tim Duncan, who had snuck into the lane to help stop a drive by James. That is when James found Bosh with a bullet pass to set up the key shot — an almost exact replica of the end-of-the-game play in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals which saw James get criticized for passing to Bosh (who missed) in a clutch situation.
“As soon as my guy leaves, one of two things are going to happen,” Bosh said. “LeBron is going to shoot it and I am getting back on defense, or he’s going to pass it to me and I am going to shoot it. I know some people always question the motive and you know, your opportunity. But when you have the chance, you take it. He was unselfish enough and I had plenty of time to shoot the ball.”
Bosh has gotten good at making these shots when he has time. As the so-called, “stretch four” has gained popularity in the league, Bosh has tried to push his game out beyond the arc in order to keep up. It’s like Popovich said — no matter how you feel about the merits of the three, if you don’t use it, you’re in big trouble.
In the first nine years of his career, Bosh made just 66 3-pointers. He made 21 last season as he began to build up some comfort with the shot. This year, he made 74 — he shot only 33.9 percent from the 3-point line, but his willingness to take the shot makes Miami all the more difficult to guard. And he has been knocking down his 3s in the postseason, shooting 43.3 percent.
“It’s important for our spacing,” Spoelstra said. “Chris gets criticized similar to LeBron, for having to play a role for us. It happened to go in tonight, didn’t go in the Indiana game, last series. Either way, we’re happy with it, it’s the process that is the most important thing.”
And that process has included Bosh allowing himself to grow, steadily and against rising criticism, as a distance shooter. “I think validating yourself is a constant process,” he said. “We have a chance to compete for another championship. That’s all that matters to me right now.”