Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
The Heat seat
Friday was center’s fifth game back after a 13-game absence
Whiteside’s late-game benchings have become a trend.
MIAMI — A long night for the Miami Heat was something far less substantial for Hassan Whiteside, again creating question about how essential the shot-blocking center is viewed when it comes to the team’s success.
With 4:01 to play in the third quarter of Friday night’s 107-103 victory over the New York Knicks at AmericanAirlines Arena, Whiteside was summoned to the bench by coach Erik Spoelstra, replaced by James Johnson.
With 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks to that stage, Whiteside was done for the night, after playing 23 minutes, 22 seconds. Held out for all of the fourth quarter. And the entirely of overtime. “You know, the decision-making is up to coach. I just can’t control that,” Whiteside said afterward, as the Heat turned their attention to Sunday’s game against the Utah Jazz at AmericanAirlines Arena, the close of a three-game homestand. “I can just cheer. I can just cheer for the team. That’s who we wanted to go with.”
The game was the fifth back for Whiteside after missing 13 with a bone bruise on his left knee, yet to play more than 29 minutes since his return.
Spoelstra said Friday’s approach was a matter of matchups and a lineup that was productive.
As has become typical with Spoelstra, the same five players played the entire five-minute overtime, with Kelly Olynyk the lone big man in the group. The Knicks also went with only one power player in the extra period, with Kristaps Porzingis a bit too rangy for Whiteside defensively. Like Whiteside, Knicks center Enes Kanter did not play the fourth quarter or overtime.
“I’m not at all hesitant to put him back in there,” Spoelstra said of another finish played in the absence of the team’s highest-paid player. “I know he wanted to be in there. When they went small, we felt that that was probably the best lineup for us, so they didn’t necessarily have an advantage with Porzingis.”
The approach has become somewhat of a trend on the nights when Whiteside is not at his aggressive best. Instead, the hot hands — in this case, Wayne Ellington, Josh Richardson and Goran Dragic — were the featured closers.
“That’s what it’s looking like. It’s looking like he’s running just different people,” Whiteside said. “That’s what it’s looking like. But you know, we got the win. We’re fifth in the East now. So, let’s keep it going.”
The curious aspect is that even when one more rebound was needed, Whiteside remained planted on the bench. Off a Knicks timeout with 13.2 seconds to play in the fourth quarter and New York down 97-94, it was a Porzingis rebound off a Courtney Lee missed 3-pointer that led to Doug McDermott’s overtimeforcing 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds to play in regulation. Had Whiteside been in the game, it is possible the Knicks would have instead turned to Porzingis for the needed 3-pointer, with his quickness advantage.
“Them guys played well,” Whiteside said. “Them guys played real well. Down the stretch they got the win.”
Before being lifted, Whiteside scored 10 of his 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first 7:59 of the third quarter. But there also were three fouls and two turnovers during that span.
“I can still play,” he said of that stretch. “But it’s been a crazy year for me. I don’t know.”
A game after asking out in the fourth quarter when he grew winded, Whiteside said conditioning was not a factor Friday and that he has regained his stamina to play greater minutes, if available.
As it was, rookie center Bam Adebayo played only 14:53 Friday, with Johnson instead entrusted with 32 minutes, 56 seconds, including the game’s final 21 minutes, despite being back for only a second game after missing six of the previous seven with ankle bursitis.
“I work on my game every day,” Whiteside said. “So everything you see me do on the court, I do it all the time. I’m working on my game. I can’t control my minutes. But I’m just going to come in and keep getting better. Whenever I’m out there, I produce.”