While Boris Diaw has been vital for the success in the San Antonio Spurs' offense to run so flawlessly, Rashard Lewis has been the mirror to that for the Miami Heat offense. Several years ago, both players were on the cusp of being out of the league, yet here we are in late June of the 2014 season, and both are very much relevant. 

As mentioned here back in March, the loss of Mike Miller’s productivity has left the Heat role players with inconsistent play throughout the season. Outside of the Big Three, there has not been a reliable fourth option that has been able to knock down the three and provide an adequate defensive presence. Enter Ray Allen’s former Seattle running mate, Rashard Lewis.

After Chris Anderson was unable to suit up in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Indiana, Lewis was thrust into the starting lineup at the four, and immediately provided the offensive spark and proper floor spacing that quickly bounced the Pacers.

“Rashard has been huge for us ever since he’s been inserted into our starting lineup, from the Indiana series.” LeBron James said. “He’s been in this position before. He’s been to the Finals with the Orlando Magic. He’s been in huge playoff games, and his experience and ability to knock down shots helps us out a lot. It spreads the floor for us, and every time he catches the ball, we tell him just to shoot it. Don’t think about nothing else besides shooting the ball, and we live with his results.”

Since then, Lewis has played in 25 plus minutes and scored in double digits, five of the six games—minus Game 4 of the Finals. He converted 18 of 39 three-point attempts (46 percent) during that span, and has been the cohesive piece that has kept the Heat afloat. 

As a team, the Heat are plus six on offense (per 100 possessions) and allow nine points less, when Lewis is on the floor. Over the past two weeks, Lewis leads his team in positive net rating.

Let’s not forget that Lewis’ tenure with the Heat has not always been this great. This is his second year with the Heat. He only played in 55 regular season games and averaged 14.4 minutes last season. In the playoffs last season that number dropped to 4.3 minutes, as he mostly watched from the sidelines. During the regular season of this year, Lewis merely averaged 16.2 minutes in 60 games. 

“You always want to stay mentally prepared,” Lewis says. “I knew, especially with Mike Miller not being here anymore, I knew we would have to go to someone on the bench who would need to step their game up and go win ball games. On any night, it can be someone different – it can be Shane Battier, James Jones, Toney Douglas or myself. I think we all know that, and all stay prepared and ready.”

With how great of a lift Lewis has provided for his team, the Heat still find themselves in a 3-1 deficit to the Spurs. Game 4 was where the wheels came off for Lewis, as he was an afterthought, playing in only 15 minutes and missing both three-point attempts he took. Lewis must knock down perimeter shots and react faster on defensive switches, if the Heat are to extend this series. 

As everyone knows, the Heat success is dependent on LeBron getting to the rim and either attacking the rim or kicking it out to open shooters. James can only do so much, and it is up for the role players to knock down open looks. With Lewis’ emergence, Shane Battier and James Jones have been bumped from the rotation and the Heat success is contingent on Lewis continuing to knock down open shots.

All the blame and praise LeBron gets is either unfairly misconstrued or largely embellished. Michael Jordan could not win titles without the proper steady support from the likes of Kerr, Paxson, and Rodman. Kobe and Shaq could not have won three straight titles without the help of Fisher, Fox, and Horry. The same applies to the Heat in this instance.