Bulled over
Whiteside, Heat get a gut-check victory
Hassan Whiteside’s double-double helps Miami win 97-91.
MIAMI — Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said his goal for Wednesday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls was a complete performance.
Ultimately, after blowing a 15-point lead, it again came down to survival, which the Heat achieved. Barely.
Against an opponent coming off a 32-point loss, not even the return of center Hassan Whiteside could significantly ease the burden, with the Heat having to fight to almost the end before finishing off the Chicago Bulls 97-91 at AmericanAirlines Arena.
“It was good to finally get a result after the work the guys have been putting in,” Spoelstra said as his team improved to 3-4 and the Bulls fell to 1-5. “I liked all the emotions that these guys had to go through.”
In need of something big to shake themselves out of their doldrums — and the three-game losing streak they carried into the night — the Heat actually got that, with Whiteside back after a five-game absence.
Whiteside, who was fatigued after dominant play at the outset, closed with 13 points and 14 rebounds in 26 minutes, after Spoelstra stressed going in that he was going to monitor the minutes of his big man.
“I thought his first seven minutes were outstanding. His rebounds, he was grabbing those 12 feet off the floor,” Spoelstra said. “And then I think he hit the wall after that, so I probably should have managed that a little better.”
It wasn’t until Tyler Johnson drained a 3-pointer at the midpoint of the fourth quarter that the Heat again opened breathing
“It was good to finally get a result after the work the guys have been putting in.” Coach Erik Spoelstra