When Hassan Whiteside has had his head right this season, he’s been a productive addition to the Miami Heat on both ends of the floor.
But it’s his hand at the moment that’s the main cause for concern.
From Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com:Whiteside needed 10 stitches to his right hand after suffering a gash between the middle and ring fingers on his hand. He sliced his hand hitting the rim and had to leave the game with 5:41 remaining in the second quarter of the Heat’s 89-88 loss to Milwaukee at the Bradley Center.
Whiteside had his hand heavily bandaged and also said he got multiple shots to numb the pain in his hand. His availability for the Heat’s game at Boston on Wednesday seems doubtful.
“I don’t know if I am going to be able to play tomorrow,” Whiteside said. “We are going to see how it feels, day to day.”
“I can’t feel my hand right now,” Whiteside added. “I’ll know tomorrow morning it will be throbbing and I will feel the pain a lot more.”
Miami has lost two straight, and nothing’s guaranteed in terms of a playoff spot for them in the East.
The Heat are currently in seventh, but are only up on the next four teams by a total of two and a half games. Boston is one of them, so if Whiteside can’t go, or is forced to miss an extended period of time, things could get difficult for Miami pretty quickly, with only 12 games left in the regular season.
Whiteside is averaging 11 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots in 22.6 minutes per game this season.
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