Posted on Fri, Jun. 08, 2012

Chris Bosh spent a considerable amount of time Thursday watching LeBron James go off on the Boston Celtics. But, for a good part of it, Bosh was doing so while positioned on the court instead of admiring the one-man show as a distant spectator.

It’s a welcome development for the Heat, which forced a deciding Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals with its emphatic 98-79 victory over the Celtics. Although Bosh didn’t put up his usual numbers, finishing with only seven points and six rebounds, his workload doubled as he continued to work his way back from injury.

“I just told [coach Erik Spoelstra], ‘whatever it takes to win, play me as much as possible,’ ” Bosh said. “I know it’s not going to be all pretty out there. But I just want to be out there scrapping with my teammates. That’s what’s important to me.”

Bosh was on the court for 28 minutes Thursday, or exactly twice his playing time in Game 5 when he returned to action following an abdominal injury that caused him to miss nine consecutive playoff contests.

That’s good news for the Heat, which clearly missed the third member of the Big 3.

As Bosh said before Thursday’s game: “It’s put up or shut up. [Trainers] have been asking me how I feel and I say, ‘Whatever it takes.’ There is no tomorrow right now, so we have to play like it.”

The Heat did that, and did it with authority, refusing the Celtics or their fans to celebrate a conference title on the parquet floor at TD Garden under Boston’s 17 championship banners.

“Before, we didn’t have the same urgency we had [Thursday],” Bosh said.

For the second game in a row, Bosh wasn’t on the court for the opening tipoff, though there’s a real chance that could change in Game 7 on Saturday in Miami.

But Spoelstra didn’t wait long in bringing Bosh off the bench, sending him in midway through the first quarter with the Heat leading 12-8. And just as Spoelstra said he would, he expanded Bosh’s minutes.

“I don’t think he’ll be able to play his normal load, particularly at the pace, and how competitive and how physical this series is,” Spoelstra warned shortly before Game 6. “I’d like to play him where he’s not quite to the point of exhaustion.”

Bosh, logging extensive minutes for the first time since May 13, didn’t look winded. Nor did he appear too terribly restricted by the abdominal injury that caused him to miss a chunk of the Heat’s playoff series with the Pacers and Celtics.

Then again, with James scoring almost at will in the first half, Bosh — like the rest of his Heat teammates — assumed more of a complementary presence. He scored his first points off a lob and nailed a jumper to give the Heat a 12-point lead with a minute to go in the first quarter. He did not score again until the fourth.

In one second-quarter sequence, Bosh blocked a shot at one end of the floor and hauled in an offensive rebound at the other. Bosh also was a big reason why the Heat was able to contain Kevin Garnett, who finished with 12 points and five rebounds.

“Garnett has been doing a great job of just roaming around and messing up our offense,” Bosh said. “I have to do my best to keep him honest. I know they’re going to stick with their game plan and that’s going to force me to knock down some shots. I have to be aggressive. I’m going to have open looks and I’m going to knock them down.”

Bosh didn’t make many shots, or even take many, going 3 for 8 from the field.

But his impact and presence was much greater than it has been in weeks, when the only thing Bosh could do was watch — from a distance.