Hassan Whiteside’s big night anchors Miami Heat’s blowout vs Pacers
By Cory Sanning
Hassan Whiteside’s 37th double-double of the season proved too much for the visiting Indiana Pacers as the Miami Heat record their third-straight win.
Welcome to the Hot Hand, where after every Miami Heat game win or loss we recognize the player that best put his stamp on the game.
Hassan Whiteside rose up, and the Indiana Pacers dove down, literally.
Finishing the night with 22 points and 17 rebounds, Whiteside set the tone for a red-hot Heat team that has now won 16 of its last 18 contests.
Indiana managed to hang around for much of the first half, going into halftime with a 54-53 lead. Losing Paul George after two technicals with just over eight minutes remaining in the third certainly didn’t help, but on a night in which three Miami players recorded 20 points or more, I’m not sure it would have much mattered.
Scoring six points during the final 2:25 of the third period, Whiteside led the Heat to a 83-79 advantage heading into the final quarter, a lead they did not relinquish for the rest of the night.
https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/835685859802427394
Whiteside’s offensive impact, while not always consistent, can be the driving force behind a Heat team that has struggled find its identity on that end of the floor for much of the season.
Case in point, Miami is MUCH better with Whiteside on the floor, and the numbers from last night’s win over the Pacers prove just that:
Points (Per 100 possessions)
Whiteside on court: 120.0
Whiteside off court: 101.6
The Heat have also proven to be a much better three-point shooting team with Whiteside in the game, knocking down nearly 46 percent of their attempts against Indiana alone. He even connected on 10-of-13 free throws, which is well above his season average of 56.8 percent.
With Whiteside on the bench, the rate dropped to just 28.6 percent.
As impressive as Miami’s offense has been as of late (topped 100 points for the 16th consecutive game – a franchise record,) Whiteside earned his big pay-day from playing good, old-fashioned defense.
While he recorded just one block and one steal in 36 minutes logged, Whiteside’s interior presence and rim protection proved vital as the Heat held the Pacers to just 40 percent shooting from the field. Indiana couldn’t muster up a make from downtown either, going just 4-of-12 on three pointers.
With Whiteside on the floor, Miami improves considerably in defensive rating, and while he’s not blocking nearly four shots per game this year, to doubt his ability in that department would be foolish.
Defensive Rating (Per 100 Possessions)
On court: 101.3
Off court: 82.0
Although Goran Dragic has easily been Miami’s most consistent force over the course of this torrid stretch, Whiteside has been and will continue to be the Heat’s most important piece.
When he’s locked in and engaged on both ends, the Heat are a playoff team. When he’s lackadaisical and disengaged, Miami is a mere 13th seed in the pitiful east, sitting at the bottom of the pact with an 11-30 record.
With the home stretch of the NBA season now upon us, everybody in that locker room knows what each of these games mean to Miami’s playoff push, as Whiteside in a post game interview with FOX Sports’s Jason Jackson:
“Guys came out here hungry,” Whiteside said. “We trying to make a playoff push so guys know what is at stake.”
The Heat are a mere 1 1/2 games behind Detroit for the eighth spot in the East, and all signs are pointing towards a second consecutive playoff appearance for Erik Spoelstra and company, this being the most improbable of them all.
That should earn some votes for Coach of the Year, right?
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More than likely not, but either way, Miami is in the mix, and if Whiteside consistently dominates at a high level, the Heat will be a tough first-round opponent.
Miami (27-32) will travel to Dallas for a Monday night showdown with the Mavericks at 8:30 p.m. at the American Airlines Center.