.
“Hassan was terrific in the second half defensively,” Spoelstra said. “That's why I played him the entire second half. He was making so many plays — a lot of them that you saw, the blocks, the rebounds. But a lot you probably wouldn't see — the pick and roll coverages against dynamic three-point shooters. He was really covering a lot of ground. Probably, arguably, as much ground as he’s covered in a game defensively was [Sunday].”
Whiteside said he was playing a little differently defensively Sunday than he had been earlier in the season — namely playing up and further away from the basket on Portland’s perimeter shooters. He’s also said he’s trusting his teammates more to protect the weakside of the basket.
“I had to step out,” Whiteside said. “And I’m fine with that. Just stay around the three-point line and my teammates had my back.
It’s just something I’m going to have to deal with. It’s not like the old days where bigs can just stay in the paint and just block a ton of shots.
“Those guys can get hot real early. So, I just had to step up on the screens. I felt like last game I didn’t step out enough. This time I told them I could do it. I told them just let me know if I need to step out on the pick and roll. I can do that.”
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Miami Heat’s Hassan Whiteside sees more time in fourth quarter