Whiteside comes alive, Heat continue desperate playoff push

After struggling offensively over the past eight games, Hassan Whiteside bounced back in the nick of time – and saved the Miami Heat’s season.

Welcome to the Hot Hand, where after every Miami Heat game win or loss we recognize the player who best put his stamp on the game.

As Shane Battier so eloquently put it nearly four years ago, sometimes it’s better to be timely than good, and this year, Heat center Hassan Whiteside has been the epitome of that statement.

Impacting the game on both ends of the floor when his team needed him the most, Whiteside logged 30 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks, including the game-sealing block on Bradley Beal’s three-point attempt in the final seconds that helped preserve a thrilling come-from-behind victory on the road.

Whiteside has struggled on the offensive end over the course of the past two weeks, In those eight games, he put up just 15.1 points per game and shot 51 percent from the field. For one of the most talented centers in the league, that just won’t cut it, not with Dion Waiters out nursing a sprained ankle.

Going against a Wizards team that had won six of their last nine (including two in a row), the odds certainly weren’t stacked in Miami’s favor.

Having dropped three of their last four (two at home, nonetheless), the Heat appeared to reeling with the pressure of missing the postseason beginning to mount.

With that being said, none of it mattered last night. Not the pressure, not the opposing crowd, nothing.

Whiteside looked like a franchise-caliber center, and his game-winning block was a testament to his effort.

Whiteside deflected all praise following the game, crediting head coach Erik Spoelstra’s timeout speech for getting him in the zone.

“When a three-time champion head coach tells you that you’re the Defensive Player of the Year, regardless of how the votes turn out, I believe it,” Whiteside said in a post game interview with FOX Sports’s Jason Jackson. “Regardless if I have to switch on to their guards or not, I was going to make that block.”

Not only did he carry Miami on the defensive end, he was their primary force on the offensive side of the ball as well.

Knocking down 12 of his 19 field goal attempts, Whiteside put on a clinic from inside the paint, abusing Marcin Gortat and making the Wizards defense look silly at every turn.

https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/850898776265039872

He also knocked down 6-of-9 free throws, continuing his red-hot post-All Star free throw streak, which now stands at 76.9 percent.

Odd enough, those numbers are nearly 10 percent better than LeBron James, who has shot just 67 percent from the charity stripe this season.

All-around, Miami was much more effective with Whiteside on the floor, than off.

They scored and rebounded at a much more efficient rate, and it’s not even close.

Points (Per 100 Possessions)

Whiteside on court: 106.3

Whiteside off court: 100.2

Rebounds (Per 100 Possessions)

On court: 36.6

Off court: 31.6

They also shot the ball much better, from both inside and out.

Field Goal Percentage (Per 100 Possessions)

On court: 48.4

Off court: 37.5

Three Point Percentage (Per 100 Possessions)

On court: 44.4

Off court: 33.3

That’s quite a discrepancy, and with just two games remaining in the season, it’s clear the Heat will need this version of Whiteside on a nightly basis if it hopes to knock off two of the East’s top teams over the course of the next three days.

Spoelstra and crew do not appear to be sweating that, however.

”These guys in the locker room right now feel alive,” Spoelstra said. ”You can’t pay enough money to feel like that.”

Miami (39-41) will return home for its final two contests, the first being another showdown with the East-leading Cleveland Cavaliers at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The Heat are 2-1 against LeBron and company this season.