5 notes from the Miami Heat’s win vs the Orlando Magic

Hassan Whiteside sparks the Miami Heat in its win over the Orlando Magic.

With an eye to earning three three seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Miami Heat kicked off a soft four-game stretch with a win against the Orlando Magic Friday. The Heat (42-30) are looking to go undefeated this next week. They have no excuses after all, they are one of the hottest teams in the NBA and they kept it rolling against Orlando (29-43).

Here are a few observations from the game:

1. Hassan Whiteside stays dominant

You may remember Evan Fournier, along with fellow Frenchman Rudy Gobert, not-so-slyly throwing shade at Hassan Whiteside earlier this year.

Well, Whiteside made sure he put up numbers that Fournier could feel. His first dunk, in fact, went over Fournier. The Heat center finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks and was a plus-nine in 29 minutes. He, along with Josh Richardson, sparked Miami’s runs to pull away in an otherwise close game.

2. Goran Dragic lifts the offense

On a night when starters Dwyane Wade (2-9), Luol Deng (4-13) and Joe Johnson (2-6) were struggling shooting from the field, Dragic put the offense on his back. He finished with 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting and eight assists.

He even finally dunked!

Dragic didn’t play well in Miami’s last game in San Antonio, but he bounced back to help lead the Heat to a needed win to get back on the winning side of things. We’ve come a long way from Dragic not fitting in, or even fitting in. He’s leading, now.

3. Rook 1 or 2

You could make an argument that Josh Richardson is the better player than fellow rookie Justise Winslow right now. While both play top notch defense, Richardson is a major factor on offense while Winslow consistently struggles to score on that end. Richardson is more than a 3-and-D player–he can handle the ball and dunk with ferocity–and he’s only going to keep getting better.

I’ll still take Winslow’s (who turns 20 years old Saturday) long-term potential but I’m very intrigued to see how Richardson’s career plays out. Luckily for the Heat, they don’t have to choose.

5. Rest for Wade

While the Heat are still fighting for the third seed in the playoffs, Erik Spoelstra is also being conscious of Wade’s minutes. With the Heat up big in the fourth quarter, Spoelstra rested him. Wade finished with just 25 minutes played.

You may remember Spoelstra trying to rest Wade late in their win against New Orleans, but had to play him again to fight a late Pelicans run. This will be a thing for the rest of the regular season.

Standings watch

The Miami Heat move to a tie with the Boston Celtics for the fourth seed, with the Hawks, Raptors and Cavaliers atop the Eastern Conference. They are just a half game back of the Hawks.