The words Hassan Whiteside and “ace reserve” presumably have never been written in the same sentence.
But that’s exactly what Whiteside was on Wednesday, and the Heat needed every one of his 18 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks off the bench in a 91-84 victory over Charlotte that pushed Miami back into the eighth and final playoff seed in the East.
Playing off the bench for the second game in a row and only the second time since signing a $98 million deal with Miami in 2016, Whiteside played just six first-half minutes but logged 15 minutes in the second half (including nearly the entire fourth quarter) and made an enormous impact, crashing the glass, dunking and anchoring the Heat’s disruptive zone defense.