Hassan Whiteside might have just saved the Miami Heat’s season with an incredible play to help lead the Heat over the Detroit Pistons 97-96 on Tuesday night.
With the Heat having the ball down 1 and 11.3 seconds left and a timeout, Heat forward Rodney McGruder inbounded the ball and the ball rolled all the way to the backcourt where it was picked up by forward James Johnson.
Johnson took a pull-up jumper that was off the mark, and after Whiteside couldn’t get that tip, Heat point guard Goran Dragic was able to wrestle the ball away from Pistons forward Tobias Harris and throw up a shot at the rim so that Whiteside had the chance to tip the ball in if Dragic’s prayer wasn’t answered.
Whiteside answered Dragic’s prayer, as he gave the Heat their first game-winner at the buzzer since the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals which was courtesy of LeBron James. Whiteside’s buzzer-beater was Miami’s first regular season buzzer beater since the man himself Dwyane Wade made it happen in 2009.
The 27-year-old Whiteside finished the game with 17 points and 9 rebounds, which broke his consecutive double-double streak, but Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra wasn’t thinking about that, or the game-winning shot following the game in regards to Whiteside:
Erik Spoelstra on Whiteside "He's maybe for the 1st time in his career playing more for the guys next to him than for himself @FOXSportsHEAT
— Kup (@AKuperstein) March 29, 2017
Whiteside is now averaging 16.9 points, 14.1 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game this season.
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