NOVEMBER 01, 2017 1:33 PM
James Johnson was held out of the Heat’s starting lineup on Wednesday night with right knee tendinitis.
Johnson played only 24 minutes and went 0 for 3 shooting on Monday in the Heat’s 125-122 overtime loss to the T’Wolves. Johnson, who was averaging 12.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 27.8 minutes per game, had started the past five games.
Okaro White made his first career start in his place, and Hassan Whiteside returned after missing the past five games with bone bruise in his left knee.
White (6-8, 215 pounds), a second-year forward, suffered a shoulder strain late in the preseason, but played in his second game of the season on Monday. He finished with six points and a rebound and contributed to a third quarter surge in which the Heat took a brief three-point lead heading into the final quarter.
BACK IN ACTION
Whiteside played 36 minutes against Orlando - the game in which he suffered the bone bruise when colliding knees with the Magic’s Nikola Vucevic. Whiteside finished with 26 points and 22 rebounds that night.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Whiteside probably wouldn’t play as many minutes as he did in the team’s season opener Oct. 18 against Orlando.
"We’re going to put him right in and then just see how many minutes he can go," Spoelstra said after Wednesday’s shootaround. "I don’t think he’ll play anywhere near the same amount of minutes he did on opening night. But the game will dictate it and how he feels."
DEFENSIVE PRESENCE
No matter how much he plays, Whiteside’s defensive presence has been sorely missed by the Heat, whose defensive numbers have dropped from last season through the first six games.
The Heat, which ranked fifth in points allowed last season (102.1), entered Wednesday’s game ranked 23rd (109.2) so far. Miami has also gone from seventh in field goal percentage allowed (45) to 27th (46.9).
Whiteside led the NBA in rebounding last season averaging 14.1 per game and ranked fourth in blocks per game (2.10). He also ranked fourth in scoring among centers (17.0 points per game) behind only Karl-Anthony Towns (25.1), Brook Lopez (20.5) and Marc Gasol (19.5).
Source: miamiherald
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
No comments:
Post a Comment