Pain in Whiteside's knee won't go away
Center aims to play against Bulls despite lingering injury.
Heat center Has
CHICAGO — san Whiteside’s left knee,
bruised in the season opener at Orlando, continues to be problematic.
Whiteside sat out Saturday’s practice because of soreness and swelling in the knee. He missed five games after banging knees with Magic center Nikola Vucevic
and the injury has yet to completely heal. While coach Erik Spoelstra said Whiteside will be evaluated today before deciding if he plays against the Bulls, Whiteside said he expects to play.
The Heat (9-9) enter the against Chicago (3-14) on a two-game winning streak.
“I want to play (today), I’m going to come out with the intent to play,” he said after
the practice at DePaul University. “I just want to get a little bit of rest today because
it swelled up on me.”
Whiteside played 24 min- utes in Miami’s win at Minnesota on Friday, with 16 points and 10 rebounds. He is averaging 15.5 points and
12.9 rebounds in 13 games. His field-goal attempts are down nearly two a game from last season, 12.6 to 10.7.
“I can tell just from the travel and how he was in shootaround and during the (Minnesota) game that he was a little bit sore,” Spoelstra said. “So I anticipated he wouldn’t be able to prac-
tice (Saturday). But that’s not highly unusual. He hasn’t been able to practice a couple of times the last 10 days, two weeks. We’ll just see how he feels (today).”
Whiteside said he felt some soreness in Minnesota. “I felt it a little bit at the
beginning,” he said. “It’s still been sore. It’s just been sore. So it’s going to take a while before I’m actually 100 percent back where I was, when I was in Orlando.”
If Whiteside can’t play today, Spoelstra could return rookie Bam Adebayo to the starting lineup. Adebayo started three games during Whiteside’s absence, but he
has not played in six of the past eight games. The 6-foot10 Adebayo is averaging 3.5 points and 3.5 rebounds. He had 13 points and 13 rebounds in a start against Minnesota last month.
Walton back with Heat:
Guard Derrick Walton Jr.’s
journey betweenSioux Falls, S.D., and Miami continues.
Walton is back with the Heat, this time for two days, joining the team after the Skyforce’s game Friday in Grand Rapids, Mich. Spoel-
stra said Walton will return to Sioux Falls for the Sky- force game Monday against
Erie and then rejoin the Heat again Tuesday in Cleveland.
Walton is on a two-way contract, which means he can spent a maximum of 45 days with the Heat during the season. He will be at 14 days Monday.
Ellington on fire: Spoelstra made the mistake recently of calling Kelly Olynyk the Heat’s best 3-point shooter.
“Wayne got mad at me,” Spoelstra said.
Spoelstra may want to find more ways to upset Wayne Ellington.
The Heat’s 3-point specialist was at his best during Friday’s 109-97 victory in Minnesota. Ellington came out firing, scoring a team-high 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Every shot he took was a 3-pointer and the only points he did not score from the field were three free throws he was awarded because he was fouled shooting from beyond the arc.
“He’s ignitable and he always has been,” Spoelstra said of Ellington. “He has two, then he’s going for three and the whole team is looking for him. He has that kind of feel and exudes that energy. It’s hard to explain.
Guys know and feel when somebody’s ignitable and you look for him.” Ellington helped the Heat shoot 48.7 percent (19 of 39) from long distance, tying a franchise single-game mark for 3-pointers.