The Miami Heat are 43-30 this season, which is the fourth best record in the Eastern conference, slightly ahead of the Boston Celtics. And the story of their season since the NBA All-Star break has been the fantastic play of center Hassan Whiteside. Here’s ESPN.com’s blog with more:
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Whiteside’s defense remained the focal point around the team, even on a night when he finished with just one block and struggled at times in his matchup with Nets center Brook Lopez, who countered with a team-high 26 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the field but also had four turnovers. But it was Whiteside’s impact on the other side of the ball that more strongly resonated for the Heat (43-30), who have scored at least 100 points in 13 of their past 14 games and are 14-6 since the All-Star break.
A major component of Miami’s recent success has been Whiteside’s spike in production, which culminated Monday with the athletic 7-footer connecting on all seven of his shots from the field and scoring 15 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter. Most of Whiteside’s baskets came on lob dunks, of which he has totaled 10 in the past two games.
In his 18 games since the All-Star break, Whiteside is averaging 18 points, 13.7 rebounds and 3.4 blocks while shooting 60.5 percent from the field in 30.6 minutes — all off the bench. He started 40 games before he suffered a left hip injury in a Jan. 20 loss in Washington, but has since settled in as a reserve, although Whiteside often plays twice as many minutes as current starting center Amar’e Stoudemire.
