Whiteside back from hip injury
DALLAS — The road back for Hassan Whiteside with the Miami Heat began Wednesday night as it started a year ago with the team, with a role off the bench.
After missing the previous six games with what the Heat had listed as a strained left hip, Whiteside returned to the active roster against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center.
Amar’e Stoudemire again started for the Heat, but coach Erik Spoelstra said it was time to get Whiteside back in the rotation.
“I feel like 80, 90 Whiteside said.
Whiteside, who worked in a full-court two-on-two drill during Tuesday’s shootaround before sitting out that night’s loss to the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center, said he wasn’t overly concerned about conditioning, “Just because the competitive nature will try to take over.”
He said he no longer is feeling sharp pain, but acknowledged ongoing discomfort.
“Not that much,” he said. “It’s just more so probably any time I raise my left hand really fast.
“When I would do a sprint, I would feel it. It’s my oblique.”
percent,”
Whiteside said it is like no previous injury he has experienced.
“No, it’s really weird. It’s definitely a weird,” he said.
The Heat restructured their offense amid Whiteside’s absence, with players off the ball working along the baseline.
“We turned the offense around,” he said. “We added a couple of things, so I’m really interested to see how I’m going to play with that, adding that slot guy and just running that pick and roll a lot different.”
Johnson surgery
The Heat announced that the procedure on Tyler Johnson’s chronically troublesome left shoulder was completed in one hour Wednesday by Heat physician Harlan Selesnick at Doctors Hospital in Miami.
The team said Johnson would begin rehabilitation immediately, but offered no timetable for his return. Johnson previously told the Sun Sentinel the rotator-surgery would leave him with a 60-day rehabilitation timetable.
Heat go retro
The Heat again find themselves in throwback mode, this time unveiling “’Hardwood Classics” alternate uniforms that will be featured in most of the team’s games in February, breaking them out Wednesday.
The uniforms are similar to those worn by the team in the mid-’90s, as the Heat transitioned from their expansion years to the Pat Riley Era, featuring shadowed bulky numerals, a scoop-neck silhouette and the original “Flaming T” element.
The uniforms are accompanied by a throwback campaign by the team across social media and in merchandising.
Back home
Wednesday’s game took Heat rookie forward Justise Winslow froman emotional two days in Houston, which included having his high school number retired and then his first professional regular-season game in his hometown.
“It was cool to be back,” Winslow said. “It was a familiar atmosphere to play in.” the first-round pick out of Duke said.
Of his number being retired, he said, “It was cool. It was something that was a very special moment for me andmy whole family.”