Chris Bosh is Doubtful for Christmas Day Game Against the Cleveland Cavaliers

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Chris Bosh is trying to get back on the court. There is a slight chance for a Christmas miracle. But all signs are pointing toward Bosh missing the highly anticipated Christmas Day matchup between the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets /

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Chris Bosh has missed the last six games dating back to December 12 when the Heat defeated the Utah Jazz 100-95.

He since has been nursing a strained left calf that has kept his much needed 21.6 points and 8.2 rebounds in street clothes.

According to a post on abcnews.go.com via ESPN writer Mike Wallace , “Bosh went through an extensive workout with the Heat’s training staff Wednesday and did some light shooting drills after the team’s practice at AmericanAirlines Arena.”

Bosh has not ruled out an appearance in the Christmas Day game against his former teammate LeBron James and the Cavs, but the ankle strain has not been cooperative, and the likelihood of  his participation is looking slim.

Heat coach, Erik Spolstra, gave and overview of what Bosh has been doing behind the scenes in attempt to get on the court for Christmas:

“The majority of his time, I don’t want to be misleading — 80 to 90 percent of his time — is with [trainers] right now. He did a bunch of work with them [Tuesday] morning and then came up to our shootaround and did some light shooting. So that’s it.”

-Erik Spoelstra

Miami has lost 10 of 15 home contest this season and just got through blowing a 23-point lead to the Philadelphia 76ers in a 91-87 home loss on Tuesday. Needless to say they are missing the services of their All-Star forward/center.

Heat guard Dwayne Wade explained the difficulties and frustration that comes with having such a major piece of the team missing from an already thin lineup in that same abcnews.go.com post:

“Obviously, if you’re missing a guy like Chris for any amount of time it’s very, very tough, when most of our offense is predicated toward myself and him. We miss 22 points a night. But outside of that, it’s just not having the continuity from night to night. The frustrating thing about this team is that we’re close to where we want to be, but we’re just not where we want to be.”

-Dwayne Wade

The best thing for the Heat would be to rest Bosh if he truly is not in a position to go full throttle Christmas Day.

Miami is 13-16 right now which is good for seventh in a top heavy Eastern Conference. The Heat should be able to tread water until Bosh is healthy enough to ball again, and solidify their position from that point of his return forward.

Mario Chalmers summed up the situation the best in the abc.go.com post when he said:

” Not having that option with Chris is making everybody else have to step up.”

-Mario Chalmers

The Heat players are going to have to rally around each other, especially if they want to give their fans the Christmas gift of a home win over “King James”.

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Cleveland is going into American Airlines Arena crippled also with center Anderson Varejao expected to miss the rest of the year with a torn Achilles Tendon.

This is a highly anticipated game in Miami with the return of LeBron James to Miami with his new “band of brothers”.

The Heat are not going to use injuries as an excuse, but it sure would be a little easier on them if they did have Chris Bosh available.

Miami is going to have to hope for a Christmas miracle.