Miami Heat: Top 10 moments of the 2018-19 NBA season

6. Hassan Whiteside’s monster performance vs. the Spurs

Prior to this encounter, the Heat had dropped their past nine regular season games to the San Antonio Spurs, with four of those games on their home floor. So it was only natural that the Heat would be desperate to reverse this trend, with their last victory coming in 2014 during the Big 3 era.

Having missed the Heat’s previous game against the Detroit Pistons due to a knee complaint, Hassan Whiteside was determined from the outset to put his stamp on the game. While he entered the game ranked second in the league with 14.6 rebounds per game, Whiteside outdid himself in this game.

In the first half alone, the seven-foot center had already registered an astonishing 18 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocked shots. In addition to his mind-boggling numbers, Whiteside also restricted Spurs’ All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge to four points on 1-of-7 shooting before the main break.

In all, Whiteside finished with 29 points, 20 rebounds and nine blocks in just 32 minutes as the Heat came away with a 95-88 win.

Following the game, coach Spoelstra was elated with his efforts:

"“The context of his winning plays had nothing to do with the stat line, and when he brings that kind of intensity, competitiveness, the defensive efforts and even the attention to detail on the other end we are clearly a different team. He’s had a lot of really good days this year….this game’s been coming. With all the guys out, he really stepped up.”"

With Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic both sidelined, this made Whiteside’s performance even more valuable. While he eventually wound up having an underwhelming season, this was certainly a performance Whiteside can look back upon fondly.