MIAMI (AP) Hassan Whiteside’s numbers are down. He’s trying not to be the same way.
Game 3 of the Eastern Conference first-round series was difficult on many levels for Miami’s center. He was in foul trouble throughout, finished with only five points and was largely a nonfactor in his team’s 128-108 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.
Whiteside has a total of 11 points in three playoff games this season, after averaging 14 points in the regular season.
”It’s just different, man. I feel like our offense is a lot different,” Whiteside said. ”I’m not involved in as many dribble-handoffs as I was and post-ups as I was during the regular season. That’s what Coach wants. Coach wants me to just be in a corner and set picks. I mean, that’s what he wants so I’ve just got to trust it.”
For his part, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said he’s trying to find ways to get Whiteside involved.
”That’s part of my job, is to figure it out,” Spoelstra said.
The Heat trail the series 2-1, with Game 4 on Saturday afternoon. Whiteside finished with only one field-goal attempt in Game 3, an alley-oop lob from Dwyane Wade that got turned into a dunk in the fourth quarter, seconds before Whiteside was taken out of the game for good. He had a bad turnover shortly before the dunk, and Spoelstra sent Kelly Olynyk to the scorer’s table almost immediately after that miscue.
”I want to get more minutes out there,” Whiteside said. ”I’m going to keep trusting Coach’s decision-making. Even with the fouls I still could have been out there. I wouldn’t have fouled out.”
Whiteside played only 13 minutes – five minutes in the first quarter that ended with his second foul, 2 1/2 minutes in second that ended with foul No. 3, 3 1/2 minutes in the third that led to foul No. 4, then two minutes in the fourth where he had two turnovers.
Meanwhile, 76ers center Joel Embiid scored 23 points in his return after a 10-game absence to recover from surgery to repair a broken left orbital bone.
”They run enough plays for him that he’s going to get his numbers,” Whiteside said. ”I don’t really get caught up in that. He lives a big-man’s dream. He gets the ball, he gets the post-ups, he posts up every other play and they pretty much run a lot of stuff through him and Ben Simmons.”
Whiteside’s inference was clear: He’d love to get that many touches.
He was asked how he can contribute in this series, and paused before answering.
”I’m trying to figure that out right now,” Whiteside said. ”I’m trying to figure it out. I guess I’ve got to crash, try to score off offensive rebounds maybe, keep running the floor and try to get alley-oops. But other than that, it’s a lot different than the regular season. It’s a lot different.”
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