The Heat were playing the red-hot Blazers without LeBron James on Saturday, but came away with the huge road win anyway thanks to a three-pointer with under a second remaining by Chris Bosh.
Trailing by two points at the time, the Heat technically didn’t need the three -- a drive to the basket or an open midrange jumper would have tied it, and Miami could have taken its chances in overtime.
That’s the way Erik Spoelstra initially drew it up, but Bosh overruled him in the huddle and wanted to go for the win instead.
From Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com:“My call at the end of the game was more conservative,” Spoelstra said. “I drew something up to get him on the move and he said, ‘No, I want it for the 3.’ So he overruled it and became a prophet.” ...
“I kind of figured that it was going to be a long 2, and I didn’t want that,” Bosh said. “I knew I would be open and have more space if I popped for 3. In that situation, I wanted to go for the win,” Bosh said.“He already hit two 3s,” Spoelstra said. “He was feeling it. He wanted it, and as soon as he said it, I said, ‘Yeah, that makes sense.’ It was much better than what I had planned.”
This isn’t the first time that the Heat have turned to Bosh with LeBron James out and the game on the line. In March of last season, Bosh similarly hit a game-winning three in San Antonio to take down the Spurs.