Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh will not be on the floor when the Lakers take on the Heat this afternoon. This is the third straight missed game for Bosh in the wake of the death of his grandmother.
Bosh, who started all 34 of the Heat’s games before missing last Thursday against the Portland Trail Blazers and Friday in Utah against the Jazz, is expected to return for Miami’s Tuesday meeting with the New Jersey Nets.
Starting in Bosh’s place against the Lakers will be veteran forward Shane Battier, who is known for his defensive prowess on the court. However, Battier is undersized and not as skilled in the post as Bosh, which could give the Lakers an even larger size advantage on the block.
Lakers coach Mike Brown said that even without Bosh, the Heat are still a very dangerous team.
“It’s a little bit of a blow because he’s one of their best players,” Brown said, “but you take LeBron and Wade and you still have a pretty good team.”*
Still, Bosh has been a thorn in the Lakers side since joining the Heat in 2010. In the two games between Miami and Los Angeles last season Bosh scored 24 points per contest, while averaging 11 rebounds as well. Bosh added 15 points and eight rebounds when the teams played on Jan. 19 of this year.