Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Whiteside feeling the pain
Center blames sore ankle for poor play and won’t be All-Star
CHICAGO — Hassan Whiteside endured his second setback in as many days Thursday when he was left off the Eastern Conference AllStar team, a day after a sprained right ankle reduced the Miami Heat center to spectator.
For now, the physical blow is of greater concern than the Heat being left without an All-Star for the first time since 2004.
Whiteside said it was the ankle issue, and not his uneven play, that left him a spectator for the final 13
1⁄2 minutes Wednesday night in a comeback 109-106 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
“My ankle was bothering me before the game,” he said as he sat with his foot in an ice bucket. “I shouldn’t have played. I tried to play through it. Coach tried to call me back in the fourth quarter. I told him I couldn’t go.”
He is listed as questionable for tonight against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center.
Coach Erik Spoelstra did not mention the injury either in his pregame comments or postgame interview. Instead he spoke of searching for cohesive combinations in a game the Heat trailed by
18 points at the start of the fourth quarter.
“To be honest,” Spoelstra said, “I was just searching for anything, anything where we could get consistent stops and not just have to play taking the ball out of the basket.
“And the game was moving quickly. The tide was turning fast. It wasn’t fair necessarily to everybody that I was taking lineups out, but we had to move quickly. And fortunately we found some things in the fourth quarter.”
Whiteside, who closed with 7 points and one rebound in his 20 minutes, 36 seconds, said Spoelstra looked his way in the fourth quarter after using him for only three minutes in the third. Instead, Spoelstra turned to James Johnson and Willie Reed.
“I just told him in the fourth quarter, I was like, Coach, I can’t play. I can’t play anymore, it’s hurting me too bad,” Whiteside said. “We got great other guys. He put J.J. in. Willie played a heck of a game. So I’m proud of those guys. Those guys benefited the team more than I could.”
As for Whiteside’s desire for a berth in the Feb. 19 All-Star Game in New Orleans, that was scuttled when Eastern Conference coaches instead voted as reserves Cavaliers forward Kevin Love, Wizards guard John Wall, Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, Hornets guard Kemba Walker, Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas, Pacers forward Paul George and Hawks forward Paul Millsap.
Wednesday night proved to be anything but All-Star level for Whiteside, even with the Heat extending their winning streak to five, with the Heat outscored by 30 points with Whiteside on the court, but outscoring the Nets by 34 during Reed’s 24 minutes, with Reed closing with 14 points.
“I probably should have sat, because I was hurting the team when I was out there,” Whiteside said. “I tried to play through a strained ankle. So I probably shouldn’t have tried to play.”
Whiteside said he was injured Monday in the Heat’s dramatic victory over the Golden State Warriors at American-Airlines Arena, when he closed with 10 points and 15 rebounds in 36 minutes.
“I really didn’t feel it that much until the next day,” he said. “So I really felt it a lot the next day. My ankle swelled up and I tried to play through it. And I was hurting the team when I was out there. So it wasn’t a good idea.”
In last week’s results for the starting All-Star berths, Whiteside finished 10th among Eastern Conference frontcourt players in the weighted vote, placing 11th in the fan vote, eighth in the media vote and 14th in the player polling.
Last week, the five starters selected for the Eastern Conference were Cavaliers forward LeBron James, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bulls forward Jimmy Butler, Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan and Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving.
Named Western Conference reserves Thursday were Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, Jazz forward Gordon Hayward, Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, Grizzlies center Marc Gasol, Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, Warriors guard Klay Thompson and Warriors forward Draymond Green.
The starters for the Western Conference team are Pelicans forward Anthony Davis, Warriors forward Kevin Durant, Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard, Rockets guard James Harden and Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
Whiteside is averaging 16.9 points, 13.9 rebounds and 2.02 blocked shots per game, shooting .548 from the field.
The voting for reserves also meant the 12-year streak of making the event came to an end for former Heat guard Dwyane Wade of the Bulls, who last did not make the game during his rookie season.