LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, every time. LeBron and Wade on the fast break. LeBron and Wade on the pick and roll. LeBron and Wade in isolation. LeBron and Wade, LeBron and Wade.
But what about Chris Bosh?
Perhaps a lot of fans out there are forgetting that third guy, but the Celtics themselves sure aren't.
"When Bosh plays really well, they blow teams out," said Kevin Garnett, the man charged with guarding the opposing power forward for the next two weeks. "It's not even close."
KG's math checks out. Bosh has averaged only 18.7 points per game this season as the third banana behind LeBron and Wade. It's the lowest clip in six years for the former Toronto star. But when he far exceeds that figure, scoring 25 or more, the Heat are 8-1. Most notable among those contests was a 110-80 drubbing last month of the Spurs, who had waltzed into Miami with the NBA's best record.
Bosh had 30 points and 12 rebounds in that game, shooting 10-of-16.
"I think Chris Bosh is one of the most important pieces of that team," Glen Davis said. "We've got to make sure that we keep him under lockdown, make sure that he doesn't have big games. He's a different kind of player — I look at him almost like a European player, because he's so big but can shoot, dribble and do things like that. You have to be physical with him."
"He's a tough guy to guard," added C's coach Doc Rivers. "He has the ability to go out to the 3-point line almost and stretch you out."
The Celtics have been fortunate these first two rounds of the playoffs, in a way — they haven't yet felt the pain of missing Kendrick Perkins. They've yet to go up against a dominant offensive player at the center position. But at the four-spot, it's a different story. The C's just got done with chasing around Amare Stoudemire, albeit a banged-up version, and now Bosh is up next.
"He can score in different ways," Garnett said. "You've got to try to take a couple of different options away from him. I think for [Davis] and myself, the guys who played Stoudemire, New York was actually a good series. It sort of warmed us up for this one. We've got our work cut out for us now."
The Celtics have a history of taking down LeBron and Wade in postseason series. They knocked King James out of the East playoffs in 2008 en route to a championship, and last spring, they took both stars out on their return trip to the Finals. Neither LeBron nor Wade has ever beaten the C's in a seven-game series.
Then again, before this year, Chris Bosh had never beaten anyone at all in a seven-game series. He's the new kid on the block.
The C's might not have faced Bosh in the playoffs before. But they're starting to take notice of him now, and they know they've got to be ready.
"They've done a better job in the second half of the year of involving him more," Rivers said. "He's a part of their offense now. You look at the Philly series — when he played well, they won those games, and when he struggled, they didn't win.
"LeBron and Wade are LeBron and Wade. They're great players. That's not going to change. But when Bosh plays great, that's when their team plays great."
