Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Center Hassan Whiteside is expected to return to the lineup tonight.
Center could start tonight after missing three weeks with a left hip injury
MIAMI — Hassan Whiteside spoke slowly, in measured terms, similar to his rehabilitation process from the strained left hip flexor that has had him out the past nine games.
“It was just different being on the court, finally getting back to it,” the Miami Heat’s shot-blocking center said Wednesday. “You know, I haven’t shot a basketball in a while, so it was a little different.”
It has been three weeks since Whiteside last played, with the return expected in tonight’s game against the Chicago Bulls at AmericanAirlines Arena. If that it is the case, it likely will be in the starting lineup, with rookie center Bam Adebayo expected to miss a second consecutive game with a sprained right ankle.
“He’s put in quite a few days of good work,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of Whiteside. “This was his first real court work and competitive live work, and we’ll just have to see how he feels [Thursday] and take the next step.”
Whiteside had pressed to return for what turned into Tuesday’s victory over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers, with the Heat left to instead start Jordan Mickey at center.
“We like those kind of players that get antsy and anxious and want to get out there,” Spoelstra said. “It is our responsibility to make sure guys are healthy and checking all the right boxes and passing all the protocols to be able to get back out there and not have a setback. And our staff and Hassan have been great working together to put him in position hopefully to come back soon.” Whiteside said he is optimistic. “I hope everything goes well and they give me the clearance,” he said.
But he also said there are lingering concerns.
“It’s not pain. It just makes it tough to lift your leg up, but it’s no pain,” he said. “I’m hoping for the best.
“It might be some limitations once I come back regardless, just to get me into the flow of things.”
Whiteside said he was caught between wanting to return and wanting to fully push past the injury, having returned from an early season knee issue only to be forced back out with issues with the same knee.
“With a strain,” he said, “you can make it worse, so it’s not something you want to try to play through.
“I never had a hip flexor strain. Any time you get a strain, those things can get worse and they can linger.”
The Heat are 14-14 this season without Whiteside, 5-4 in this latest absence.
“It’s been ups and down,” he said of watching as a spectator. “But those guys got a big one [Tuesday] night. We’re just building on that.”
Now the building likely will resume with Whiteside back in the middle.
Guard Dwyane Wade said expectations should be tempered initially, with an adjustment expected.
“First, to get him back out there whenever that time is and get his wind going and get his confidence back and get familiarity back with the team,” Wade said. “It’s like when you miss time, sometimes you come back and the team is playing a whole other different way and you kind of got to get back in the groove of that. But definitely, to get our big guy back is a plus.”
Spoelstra said it is a difficult time to work a returning player into the mix, amid a limited practice schedule.
“When guys get injured in November, December, sometimes in January, in between and practice days you’re able to actually play five-onfive,” he said. “We’re not able to do that. He’s been doing everything else. He’s been on treadmills. He’s been on the VersaClimber. He has been doing his lifting, he’s been biking like a Tour-de-France guy. He just needs to get more court time.”
Whiteside initially injured his hip during the morning shootaround before the Heat’s March 10 victory over the visiting Washington Wizards.
The Heat have seven games left in the regular season, with two victories, regardless of any outside results, assuring them of a playoff berth. The NBA playoffs open the weekend of April 14-15.
Whiteside last played in the March 8 108-99 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, when he closed with 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting, with eight rebounds.