NEW YORK -- Heat forward Chris Bosh stepped onto the court at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night with one thought in his head.

"I've got to impress my son, the first game he watches," Bosh said.

Someday, the kid is going to love this story.

On the same day his wife gave birth to a son they named Jackson, the All-Star had nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds in Miami's 87-70 victory over the New York Knicks to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the teams' Eastern Conference first-round series. Bosh arrived at the arena at 6:31 p.m., just 29 minutes before the scheduled tipoff, and didn't miss a moment.

"It's just an amazing thing," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said.

The whirlwind started Wednesday night, not long after Bosh tossed down his luggage and flipped on the television in his room at the team hotel. He was going to get some dinner with a friend when his wife, Adrienne, called with the word: Come home.

Dinner was canceled. Bosh got to the airport and onto a private jet that whisked him to Miami just in time for the birth. The particulars were unclear; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the baby arrived at 3 a.m., Bosh said it was closer to 4 a.m., and the proud papa acknowledged he had no idea how long the baby was or what he weighed.

All irrelevant details. Bosh's wife and son were happy and healthy, and soon the plan was hatched to get him back to New York for Game 3.

"A tremendous effort to get here," Heat forward Udonis Haslem said. "Man, that's what it's about. Sacrifice. It'd been easy for him to stay home but he got here and he made it about the team and he helped us get this one tonight."

When his plane touched back down in the New York area around 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Bosh had flown more than 3,600 miles in a span of about 24 hours. As he scurried into the locker room to get taped, dressed and ready, Bosh's teammates broke into a cheer.

"He's very excited," Spoelstra said before the game. "While he may not be fully rested, he has an incredible amount of excitement right now."

Bosh played 37 minutes.