Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Whiteside moves ahead with stronger effort
After benching Monday, center dominates in win
PHOENIX — The redeeming value of an 82-game schedule is you quickly get to move on. So Hassan Whiteside moved on and redeemed himself.
Two nights after his second-half benching in his listless performance against the Golden State Warriors, the Miami Heat’s shot-blocking center was back in an aggressive double-double mode in Wednesday night’s victory over the Phoenix Suns, an encouraging sign with Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert up next tonight.
Only after the victory over the Suns did coach Erik Spoelstra seemingly offer clarity that there was a punitive element to Whiteside being pulled for good 73 seconds into Monday’s second half.
“It’s a long season and we’re trying to build habits and everybody is held accountable,” Spoelstra said. “We’ve had different guys finish. There’s a certain standard of how we want to play. And different things happen in different games, and you just need to be emotionally stable to learn, to adapt, to be ready for the next game and produce for your teammates.
“But Hassan was tremendous [Wednesday]. He had a great motor, great disposition. His focus level was extremely high. He knows how important he is for our success. When he’s playing at this kind of level, this ballclub can win a lot of games.”
Whiteside closed with 23 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots against the Suns.
This time Whiteside was actively engaged, making himself available for alley-oop passes, working in concert with point guard Goran Dragic, talking to teammates on the bench, after distancing himself in such a situation Monday.
“It was great, man, because we were on the same page, especially me and Goran,” Whiteside said. “We were really communicating throughout the whole game, which we did a lot more. ‘What do you see?’ ‘What did I see?’ We talked a whole lot in this one.”
The motivation was particularly clear when 6-foot-1 Suns rookie point guard Mike James attempted to throw down on Whiteside in Wednesday’s second quarter.
“I didn’t know he [had that],” Whiteside said of James’ explosiveness. “He just jumped up and put some force behind that dunk. I ain’t know he could dunk like that. But I just go up, challenge anyone at the rim. He tried, man, and he’s definitely got some heart for trying. Not too many guys will try that.”
What was perceived as a follow-up glare actually was something different, Whiteside said.
“I was just so shocked,” he said. “I looked at him, and then he didn’t get up. So now I was thinking he was hurt. I was like, ‘What was he thinking?’ Then the next couple seconds I was like ‘Is he all right?’ Because he just stayed laying down.”
James eventually bounced back up, just as the Heat did from Monday’s loss to the Warriors.
The only concern the Heat and Whiteside took out of Phoenix was a sore left hand Whiteside suffered when fouled late in the game.
“I went down and it bent backwards when I fell,” he said, “but I’m OK. I just want to put ice on it, keep it from swelling.”
He said he does not expect it to be an issue tonight against the Jazz.
“It’s good man. I’m sore, but I hit game winners with one hand,” he quipped at Thursday’s practice. “It’s just swollen, but it’s going to feel better.”
In addition, guard Tyler Johnson, who missed Wednesday’s game due to an illness, was feeling better Thursday and is listed as probable for tonight.