Whiteside happy with being 10 pounds lighter
Spoelstra says center just needs to get back to speed
MIAMI — Hassan Whiteside wanted to make one thing clear a day after he asked out of the Miami Heat’s Wednesday night victory over the Detroit Pistons — it’s not for a lack of conditioning.
Whiteside said Thursday that he lost 10 pounds in a grueling rehabilitation program when he was away from the team for 13 games with a bone bruise on his left knee.
“I can run on the treadmill and ride a bike all day. I even lost 10 pounds doing that when I was out,” he said after practice at AmericanAirlines Arena. “It’s a lot different than minutes in an actual game.”
It was during Wednesday’s fourth quarter when Whiteside, in his fourth game back, asked for a breather. Coach Erik Spoelstra wound up going without him the rest of the way amid the solid play of Kelly Olynyk. Whiteside wound up playing 17 minutes, 4 seconds.
“Coach is always saying, if you ain’t asking for a sub you ain’t rolling hard enough,” he said. “I was putting it all out there. I asked for a quick breather. Those guys were playing great. I didn’t need to go back out there. Kelly was playing amazing. We got the win. That’s all I cared about.”
Spoelstra said it remains a work in progress with Whiteside.
“He couldn’t be better with his offcourt conditioning — body fat, weight. They’re all in the areas that we want,” he said. “He just has to get game minutes to get used to game speed. And he’ll get there.”
Whiteside has averaged 20.9 minutes in his return. He said he appreciates the value of playing leaner.
“Get down to 255. Just get a little lighter. I’m happy. My body fat is extremely low,” he said.
James Johnson, too
Spoelstra also was encouraged with the conditioning of forward James Johnson, who returned Wednesday after missing six of the previous seven games with ankle bursitis.
“His condition level is phenomenal,” Spoelstra said.
Johnson found himself in pain when he attempted to initially return after a three-game absence with the ankle issue. This time there was no such relapse.
“It felt great,” he said. “I still did my early-morning treatment [Thursday], all the activation stuff. Waking up, it wasn’t sore at all. So that’s a great sign.
“It felt good, it was nothing about the conditioning or being short winded.”
Johnson, in fact, insisted on a postgame workout Wednesday after playing 23:43.
“I felt like it wasn’t enough for the conditioning-wise where I wanted to be,” he said. “Get a lift in. Ride the bike a couple of miles.”
Still out
Spoelstra said guard Dion Waiters and forward Justise Winslow would remain out for tonight’s game against the visiting New York Knicks.
Winslow has missed the past 10 games with a strained left knee, Waiters the past five with a sprained left ankle.
Spoelstra, though, said Thursday was the first time Winslow participated in a practice since being sidelined.
“This was the next step,” he said. “So this was the first time that he’s participated in a non-contact practice. It was not a training-camp, intense practice today.”
Waiters’ Thursday work was limited to conditioning and rehabilitation away from the court.
Getting better
Guard Tyler Johnson said he was closer to himself Thursday after missing Wednesday’s shootaround due to an illness and then playing 33 minutes against the Pistons, shooting just 1 of 5.
“I just had a cold. I could feel it coming on,” he said. “I’d been on the antibiotics the day before to make sure it didn’t get too out of control. It was nothing super crazy. I felt like I got hit by a bus when I woke up [Wednesday].”
He said he was not quite himself against Detroit.
“Mentally I felt OK,” he said, stressing it was not another migraine, after missing a Dec. 13 game against the Portland Trail Blazers for that reason. “I had the clarity. I didn’t feel like I was in a fog or anything like that. I just felt like my body was a little bit drained. I had been sweating all day for no reason. It was weird. I just felt a little bit drained.”