Miami Heat: 5 Best Games Of The Season
By David Ramil
Jan. 25, 2015 – Miami Heat @ Chicago – FINAL SCORE: 96-84
Hassan Whiteside had developed a small cult following in South Florida but, for most other NBA fans, he was a largely unknown quantity. A fluke. A nice story that was surely bound to end soon.
Or perhaps he’d just go on to have a historically-great season and set a franchise record for blocks in a single game.
That was the setting for Miami’s huge win against Chicago in late January, just their second win in five games. The Bulls were playing dominantly at that point, playing at high level at every facet of the game. Whiteside would be matching up against Pau Gasol, a hall-of-fame talent that was playing with renewed energy in the Windy City.
Whiteside simply went out and showed that he was legitimate player and a fixture in the NBA for years to come:
For a franchise that has featured prominent big men like Alonzo Mourning and Shaquille O’Neal, Whiteside’s record-setting accomplishment is huge. That he did so in the midst of a triple-double stat line (14 points, 13 rebounds to go with his 12 blocks) is incredible.
Beating a quality opponent was nice, no doubt about it. But Whiteside showed why Heat fans were so excited about the young player and why reuniting him with a retooled roster has people thinking that a return to championship prominence might come sooner than expected.
Next: No.2 - Dwyane Wade's Merry Christmas