As the Heat’s offense sputtered and the Knicks rallied to take the lead in the fourth quarter Friday night, a few small sections inside AmericanAirlines Arena could be heard chanting ‘We want Whiteside!’
It’s unclear if Erik Spoelstra heard them. Either way, the Heat’s coach didn’t heed their advice.
Instead of putting his starting center and the Heat’s highest paid player back into the game after he went to the bench with 4:01 remaining in the third quarter, Spoelstra turned to Kelly Olynyk and James Johnson in his frontcourt for the final nine minutes and 45 seconds of regulation and all five minutes of overtime in Miami’s 107-103 victory.