Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Whiteside (knee) won’t travel to Atlanta, Boston
MIAMI — Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Saturday that center Hassan Whiteside will not travel on the upcoming twogame trip for games Monday against in Atlanta and Wednesday in Boston.
Whiteside, including Saturday night’s game against the Clippers at American-Airlines Arena, has missed the past nine games with a bone bruise on his left knee. He missed five games with a similar injury earlier in the season.
Forward Justise Winslow, whose status had been upgraded to questionable before Saturday’s game, missed his second consecutive game with a strained left knee sustained in Wednesday’s home loss to the Trail Blazers.
Spoelstra said Winslow will travel with the Heat for the upcoming two-game trip, which will be followed by a stretch of seven of the ensuing games at home.
Local flavor
Alonzo Gee, the Dwyer High School product out of Riviera Beach, has been added to the roster of the Heat’s developmental league affiliate, the G League Sioux Falls Skyforce.
Gee, 30, most recently was in the NBA last season with the Nuggets. The 6-foot-6 guard also has played for the Wizards, Spurs, Cavaliers, Trail Blazers and Pelicans.
With Gee’s agreement solely with the Skyforce, he remains eligible to be signed by any NBA team.
Gee has spent time in the NBA in each of his first eight professional seasons. In 417 career NBA games (213 starts), he has averaged 6.6 points and 3.3 rebounds in just under 22 minutes per game.
The Sun Sentinel Player of the Year in 2005, while at Dwyer, Gee’s most successful NBA stretch was from 2011-13 with the Cavaliers, when he averaged over 10.3 points and 3.9 rebounds, including starting all 82 games in 2012-13.
Odd schedule
The first thing the Heat did upon returning from their Friday trip to Charlotte? Pack.
Just as was the case after their recent three-game trip that included time in Mexico City.
Such also was the case after their longest trip of the season, the western swing in early November, when there was only a single game at home before it was back on the road.
That pack-rinse-repeat cycle again was the case after Saturday night’s game, with two road games to follow.
“We have the most unique home-road split of any … team in either conference,” Spoelstra said. “I don’t know the reason for that.”
Only the Raptors and Kings have played fewer than the Heat’s 13 home games.
The Heat, of course, also sport a losing home record.
“We’re well aware of how we’ve performed at home,” Spoelstra said. “I want to improve that. We want to build something special here in front our home fans and having a pride of playing well at home and making this a place where people don’t want to play.”
Salvation finally will come after the upcoming two-game trip, with the Heat then to play seven of eight at home, a four-game homestand and threegame homestand interrupted only by a game in Orlando, not having to again leave the state until Jan. 8.
“We can’t get ahead of ourselves of all of these other games that will be coming back after we return from the road,” Spoelstra said.
Evolving rotation
Fill-in starting center Kelly Olynyk said he continues to gain comfort playing alongside rookie center Bam Adebayo, with Spoelstra recently playing the big men together more often, amid the injury absence of Whiteside.
“It’s been good,” Olynyk said. “He’s a huge threat at the rim, obviously driving, screen and rolls, lobs. He rebounds the heck out of the ball.”
Olynyk said he tries to create spacing when alongside Adebayo, “It just makes it tougher for guys to guard.”
Shot selection
Spoelstra said getting players to recognize their best shots extends beyond Dion Waiters‘ shot selection.
“There’s been a lot of film sessions, not only with Dion, but all of our guys, to learn how to impact winning, on both ends of the court,” he said.