Hassan Whiteside played against the Toronto Raptors last night despite receiving 13 stitches on his hand. Whiteside cut his hand while going up for a block in the previous game, but he decided to play against the Raptors and help the Miami Heat make a playoff push. Unfortunately, the 7-foot center suffered another injury as he rolled his ankle near the end of the game.
Even though he was injured, Whiteside was the best player on the Heat as he finished the game with 16 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. However, his effort was not enough as no one else stepped up, and the Heat ended their home stand with a loss.
With two injuries, Hassan Whiteside might be out
Hassan Whiteside was able to play through one injury, but it is very likely that he will have to sit out Heat's next game. Miami lost their starting guard Dion Waiters to an Ankle Injury just a week ago, and now the same thing happened to another starter. The 27-year old center said that his ankle is not as bad as Waiters', but it is still not certain how it will affect him and whether he will be able to recover quickly from it or not.
Spoelstra said Hassan Whiteside sprained his ankle late in the game. Unsure of severity.
— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) March 24, 2017
Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said he doesn't know how severe the ankle injury is and that they will have to wait for more details.
What makes this injury worse is that Hassan Whiteside had another ankle injury in late January this year and he missed one game because of it.
With ten games left in the season, Miami Heat cannot lose Whiteside
The worst thing about Hassan Whiteside's ankle injury is the timing of it as there are only ten games left in the regular season and the Heat are trying to make the playoffs.
At this moment, they are in the playoff picture, but losing Whiteside could also mean losing the edge they have and missing the playoffs.
Miami Heat are currently one game ahead of the Chicago Bulls, who are in the ninth spot in the East. They are going on a three-game road trip which starts in Boston against the Celtics then they go to Detroit and New York for back-to-back games. The Heat cannot lose Whiteside, or they playoff chances will diminish almost entirely.
