Hurt Whiteside provides inspiration
Playing well through serious hand injury impresses teammates.
MIAMI — Hassan Whiteside’s recent play has been well documented, and following Friday ’s shootaround, the Heat’s $98 million center received more praise from his teammates.
Whiteside has been Miami’s anchor as the Heat make their playoff push. Despite needing 13 stitches to close a cut between the middle fingers on his right hand when he smacked the backboard late in Miami’s win over Phoenix on March 21, Whiteside did not miss a game.
Guard Tyler Johnson said he’s been most impressed with Whiteside’s “growth” during the recent uptick in his play.
“That was a huge thing for us to see him be able to battle through (the hand injury) especially at such an important moment in the season,” Johnson said. “Even throughout this whole run, we started to see a difference in the way he was playing, a difference in the way he was picking other guys up. It hasn’t just been these past 10 days, he’s really shown that he could do this long term. We all knew he could do it, it was just a matter when he was going to get it done.
“We’ve seen such a huge change in the way he’s playing and we only go as he goes. He’s the catalyst to our defense and he’s the anchor to our offense. It says a lot about how much he’s matured and it’s good to see.”
Entering Sunday, Whiteside was averaging 18.9 points, 13.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks while shooting 59.4 percent from the floor in his last 10 games. He had a franchise record 15 consecutive double-doubles snapped Tues- day in Detroit, a game that he won with a tip-in at the buzzer.
After scoring 16 points and pulling down 12 rebounds during Sunday’s 116-113 loss to Denver, Whiteside tied Rony Seikaly ’s team record with his 53rd double-double of the season.
“Probably most players would have sat out,” guard Goran Dragic said of Whiteside playing through the hand injury. “He demonstrated that he cares for this team, for his teammates, for the city. To have 13 stitches in his shooting (hand), most of the times people are hitting him. It gives us a lot of energy when we’re able to appreciate what he does for us.”
More progress for Waiters: Dion Waiters missed his eighth straight game Sunday since spraining his left ankle, but signs are that a return could be coming soon.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is offering morsels of good news almost daily now, the latest being that the shooting guard is out of his walking boot. “Nothing new, but he is making progress,” Spoelstra said after Miami’s shootaround. “He’s starting to do some conditioning. He’s out of his boot, so that’s good.”
Mia mi i s 3 -5 s i nc e Wait e r s was injured. Josh Richardson has started in his spot but has struggled offensively. However, he had 17 points against the Nuggets, including 4 of 6 on three-pointers.
Spoelstra said Friday that the swelling in Waiters’ ankle had “come down considerably.” The next step is Waiters getting on the court, then returning.
Waiters would have another week if he wanted to return for the final two games to prepare for the playoffs, if the Heat are in the postseason. The Heat conclude the regular season with home games against Cleveland on April 10 and Washington on April 12.