Getty Images Miami Heat Hassan Whiteside dominates the Spurs.
Who said Hassan Whiteside can’t ball? The big man sure showed everybody on Wednesday night that he can, in fact, go off on defenses. The Miami Heat hosted the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night, and Hassan Whiteside had himself a night as he was one block shy of hitting his first triple-double on the season.
Whiteside hasn’t been all that great so far this season, as he is only averaging 12 points-per-game to date. His best statistic though is impressive as he is averaging 14 boards-per-game. Well, Whiteside turned up the heat on the Spurs as he not only dominated on offense with scoring, but he dominated down low with the boards once again as well.
Whiteside’s significant contributions to the team helped the Heat put a nice little beat down on the Spurs. The Heat came away with the win, with a final score of 95-88. Whiteside finished with 29 points, 20 rebounds, two assists, and nine blocks. Eight of those blocks came within the first two-quarters of the game. Somehow, he couldn’t finish off the second half with two more.
Whiteside Was Dominant
Hassan Whiteside had 8 blocks in the 1st half. That’s tied for the 2nd-most in any half over the past 15 seasons, trailing only Marcus Camby (9 blocks).
Whiteside joins some good company with his overachieving Wednesday night stat line. Although we all know that Whiteside hasn’t been this dominant on a consistent basis, his final stat line joined some great company. Some of the only players to match 29-20-09 in a game are names like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, Bob McAdoo, and Elmore Smith and more.
Can this become a trend for Whiteside? Nobody is going to count on it, apparently. But if he can flash that kind of play, there really shouldn’t be any reason as to why Whiteside can’t have a night like this more consistently. After all, the Spurs are no scrubs. We’ll see if Whiteside can get a hot streak going on Friday when the Heat continues their season against the Indiana Pacers.