The latest big night from Hassan Whiteside highlights the NBA action from Sunday.
If the Miami Heat wind up making the playoffs this year, it will be hard not to credit the emergence of Hassan Whiteside. The big man continued his breakout season for the team Sunday, leaving the Boston Celtics without answers in a 83-75 victory.
Miami is currently seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 21-26 record, but Dwyane Wade is out indefinitely due to injury and only a couple games separate the team from falling into the lottery. After losing so much talent during the offseason, the team could ill-afford to lose its star shooting guard for significant time, yet that's just what happened.
Whiteside's emergence could be the difference-maker with opponents consistently struggling to stop the former journeyman. After multiple stints in the D-League, Lebanon and China over the prior two seasons, the 7-footer is finally putting it together at age 25.
On Sunday, the Celtics became the latest team unable to stop Whiteside, who put up 20 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in 30 minutes. He didn't record a single free throw attempt, but took advantage of a career-high 17 shot attempts to score 20-plus points for the second time in his career.
We've brought up Whiteside for his impressive exploits already, but on a slow day with only two games, his performance stood out yet again. Not only is he proving to be one of the biggest breakout players of the season, he's also got a chance to prop up what could've been a dire situation in South Beach.
The Heat were only a fringe playoff team with Wade in the lineup the vast majority of the time, and could've been completely sunk by the guard's strained hamstring, which will keep him out for at least a few weeks. Instead, it's become the perfect opportunity for Whiteside to show he's more than a flash in the pan.
And if the on-off numbers from his early time with the Heat are any indication, he's far from a fluke. The team's scoring margin per 100 possessions is 9.2 points better when he's on the court (via NBA.com):
| 14-15 Heat | Off. Rating | Def. Rating | Net Rating |
| Without Whiteside | 97.7 | 104.7 | -7.0 |
| With Whiteside | 103.4 | 101.1 | +2.2 |
Those are easily the best numbers on the team, and while they come in limited playing time, that sample size keeps growing. Whiteside hasn't slowed, putting up some of his biggest numbers since missing a couple games with an ankle injury in mid-January.
Whether you're looking at the way his presence impacts Miami's overall numbers, or his per-36 minutes stats -- 17.5 points, 15.5 rebounds, 4.8 blocks -- Whiteside grades out as an impact player. There's no guarantee that he keeps it up, but if he does, the Heat may have a major boost as they look to keep their playoff hopes alive with the Charlotte Hornets, Brooklyn Nets and Detroit Pistons on their trail.
3 other things we learned
There's no competing with the Super Bowl. Basketball is pretty popular in the United States these days, but it's not surprising the league didn't want to set up a full schedule beside the most popular live sporting event of the year. Both of the NBA games on Sunday finished well before the beginning of Super Bowl 49, and one would be fairly naive to assume that's a coincidence. The NFL's championship game has become the biggest television event in the country for years, and it would've been pretty difficult for the NBA to put together a slate that would pull significant eyes from Super Sunday.
The New York Knicks gotta give minutes to someone. Lou Amundson is a 32-year-old journeyman who signed with New York in mid-January. Before that, he had played for the Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Indiana Pacers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Pelicans and Cleveland Cavaliers. On Sunday, Amundson set a career-high in his 366th career game by appearing for 36 minutes in the Knicks' 92-80 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. It's a moment to celebrate for Amundson, who's bounced around for years despite regularly getting snapped up. It's also a sign of where the Knicks are right now. Amundson has never gotten these kinds of minutes before, and probably won't again once this stint is over.
Jordan Hill's injury could sink Lakers even further. A big game from Hill helped the Lakers snap a nine-game losing streak on Thursday against Chicago, but he won't be able to stifle the team's tanking efforts for a little bit after suffering a quad injury Sunday. Arguably the team's best two-way player at this point, Hill played just seven minutes against the Knicks before leaving with the injury, which could keep him out "a couple days or couple weeks" depending on the severity. Either way, after recording 26 points and 12 rebounds to help beat the Bulls, Hill will be sorely missed by a Lakers team that's already undermanned.
Play of the Night
With the ongoing knee injuries, we don't get to see a ton of explosiveness from Carmelo Anthony these days, so it was pretty refreshing to see the Knicks star pound down this alley-oop against the Lakers on Sunday. Even for a day, things were mostly good for 'Melo, who scored 31 points on 13-of-25 shooting to lead New York to its fifth win in seven games.
2 fun things
It's just not easy getting up a shot on Hassan Whiteside.
Final scores
Miami Heat 83, Boston Celtics 75 (Hot Hot Hoops recap | CelticsBlog recap)
New York Knicks 92, Los Angeles Lakers 80 (Posting and Toasting recap | Silver Screen and Roll recap)
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