WINDERMAN

with theToronto Raptors and his lesser numbers have led to this bid for a third consecutive championship with the MiamiHeat.

“Theywere bigswho could put the ball on the floor, they could shoot from the outside, they could kill you inside,” he said of Garnett and Duncan, the irony being this second consecutive bid to push past Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs for a ring. “As a player growing up in the traditional-big kind of system, thatwas like the best thing I had ever seen inmy life.

“When I sawbig dudes dribbling on the floor, Iwas like, ’I didn’t knowwe could do that?’ So I startedworking onmy dribbling game and I got better at that.”

And then heworked on his shooting game and got best at that, arguably the best mid-range game of a player his size in the league today.

So when theHeat twice needed breakthrough plays late in Sunday’s the fourth quarter, Bosh thought nothing of being stationed deep in the right corner, the same corner whereRay Allen devastated the Spurs in last season’sNBAFinals.

The first 3-point bid, off a Spoelstra timeout, failed, Bosh off with the shot. The second, off a sublime kickout pass fromLeBron James did not.

The paradox of that decisive momentwas itwas Duncan left to make the decision whether to sag off Bosh to impede James, or whether to stay with the player he had so influenced with his own diversified palate.

Duncanmoved into the lane. James passed to Bosh. Unconventionality, Duncaninspired nonconformity, turned the game, andmaybe the series. Bosh for three.

Being different can be a difficult concept to grasp fromoutside. Those two earlier flying dunks by Bosh, one that drewa foul on Duncan, one that sent Tiago Splitter reeling, are whatwe want fromthose closer to 7-foot than Ray Allen-sized. They energize, invigorate, scintillate.

But on theHeat there already is a 6-foot-8 forward proficient with infusing such vigor, a 6-4 guard still capable of such moments. Rim theatrics tend to be the province of James and DwyaneWade.

Onthis team, though, and on few others, is there a 6-foot-11center so lithe that he seemingly can make himself invisible in the corners just by turning sideways. As open as hewas for his decisive 3-point dagger, hewas even more open on the play Spoelstra drewup during that previous timeout.

“He’s the forgotten guy on our team,” James said. “Shouldn’t be.”

And yet needs to be, so when he backpedals to the 3-point line no one quite takes notice. Stealth.

By the numbers, Bosh never should be that open. According to ESPN’s stats, Sunday’s shotwas the13th time Bosh has converted a 3-pointer in the final five minutes of regulation or overtime since Jan. 2012.

It iswhy when some point to Spoelstra positioning Bosh to fail, both coach and center grow perplexed.

“One of the most stable mentally tough guys I’ve ever been around,” Spoelstra said. “That’swhy it raises the hair on the back ofmy neck when people question him. He has absolutely championshipDNA. It’s that mental toughness that comes through because he understands he’s going to be criticized fromthe outside, because of howwe ask him to play, which is paramount, that’s critical for our success.”

To some, the genius of Spoelstra is getting Bosh to do more.

To Bosh, it merely is something he has always wanted, to growhis game beyond the confines of height. Like Garnett. Ironically, likeDuncan.

MICHAEL LAUGHLIN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Years ago, Chris Bosh, left, looked up to his current Finals foe Tim Duncan, center, as an example of a big man in the NBA who could be a threat from the outside and inside.