On Tuesday night the Miami HEAT faced the Minnesota Timberwolves at the American Airlines Arena, and fans were able to witness Hassan Whiteside at his best. Whiteside finished the game with a triple double of 22 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocked shots. Indeed Whiteside decided to have a block party at the AAA. Unfortunately, the HEAT still managed to fall short to the Timberwolves, partly due a stunning 22 turnovers.
Other than Whiteside’s triple double, the other bright spot came from 1st round draft pick Justise Winslow, who amassed a career high 11 rebounds. However, Winslow had 6 turnovers, the most from anyone on the team. The Timberwolves are a young and very explosive team, so fast break points are something that they can easily capitalize on given so many turnovers from their opponent.
The other elephant in the room was once again the lack of offensive efficiency coming from Goran Dragic. Dragic started the game well, and it looked like maybe his shooting slump would be over. However, it was a tale of two halves for the HEAT guard, who just couldn’t seem to get anything going in the second half. Dragic did contribute with 9 assists, but his inability to keep his shooting momentum going hurt the team in the end, as he finished just 5-12. Additionally, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade faired no better, as each finished 5-12 and 5-13 respectively. It’s never a good thing when your three highest paid players contribute a total of 36 points of offense.
Where do the HEAT go from a loss to a young Timberwolves team that many expected would be a W? As I said before, Hassan Whiteside is very much coming into himself and proving he can be more than just a defensive presence for the team. Chris Bosh doesn’t seem to mind Whiteside taking some of the shine away from the perceived stars of the team. Bosh describes his relationship with Whiteside as “symbiotic.”
Of course, Whiteside being dominant of both sides of the ball works well, but the symbiosis Bosh speaks off will only be able to flourish if Bosh capitalizes on the opportunities handed to him by Whiteside’s offensive and defensive explosion this season. As Bosh says, Whiteside’s presence essentially “spreads the court for [him]” and allows him to have more opportunities not just in the post.
On the other hand, we also saw an explosion from Winslow in the form of rebounds, yet he continues to struggle in his handling of the ball at times to the tune of 6 turnovers against the Timberwolves. It’s early in the season, so we won’t jumped to conclusions about how Winslow just yet, and one loss to the Timberwolves won’t ruin the season just yet. We can answer that question closer to playoffs. The HEAT are now 6-4, but to stay afloat they need to protect home court, and Bosh needs to capitalize from Whiteside’s growth.
