Chris Bosh is filling the Heat’s power vacuum left by LeBron James’ departure

It was easy to project the Heat struggling offensively this year without LeBron James. James is one of the best players ever, so naturally Miami built its attack around him. The way he played is how they played.

And the way they played worked. The Heat were second in the NBA last year in offensive rating, scoring 109 points per 100 possessions, and that number jumped to 111.4 when LeBron was on the court. Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade played a big role, but James made it all go.

But even without James, Miami’s offensive output hasn’t really changed. The Heat are now 5-2 after a 105-96 win over the Dallas Mavericks, all while scoring 108.3 points per 100 possessions, good for sixth best in the NBA.

The Heat will surely miss James at some point because he’s LeBron James. But this start is also illustrating just how good Chris Bosh is.

Bosh is averaging 23.6 points on 49 percent shooting through seven games, leading Miami to the top of the East ahead of James’ Cavaliers. He’s hitting close to two three-pointers per game while connecting on 36 percent of his shots from behind the arc, an exceptional number for a big man. He’s been able to up his rebounding to 10.3 per game, nearly four more than last season. He’s also averaging three assists, a big increase over the 1.1 he dished out last season.

Bosh has become the center of the Miami Heat offense, filling the power vacuum left by James and assuming his role as the player who makes that offense go. He’s finishing 28 percent of Miami’s possessions with a basket, foul or turnover, a major uptick from the 22 percent he posted last year.

Bosh has fully morphed into a hybrid of the go-to scorer he was in Toronto and the secondary player he’s been in Miami, and the result has been fun to watch. He can score from anywhere on the court, but doesn’t hold the ball. Watch his field goal attempts from his 20-point, 10-shot performance against the Mavericks Sunday to see how quickly he’s making his decisions. His outside shooting opens up the court for everyone else and his unselfishness from the top of the key forces the defense to dart from side to side. And when all else fails, Bosh can still get a bucket when called upon, whether it’s from the post, off the dribble or by spotting up.

Whether he can withstand this load for the entire season will be worth watching. For now, though, we should all be just sitting back and appreciating Bosh for what he is and always has been: a star who can jump into the power vacuum left by his superstar teammate and carry a team.

Own Activision’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare on XBOX One, XBOX 360, Playstation 4 and Microsoft Windows, Nov. 4.