Aggressive Hassan Whiteside Dominates Undermanned Sixers

MIAMI -- Hassan Whiteside was ready to take on the Sixers Saturday night. 

30 points and 20 rebounds later, it showed.

"I just came out aggressive," Whiteside said following the Heat's lopsided 125-102 win (see instant replay). "I really wanted to come out here and play against this team, this team I heard a lot about." 

Aggressive is an understatement. Whiteside recorded a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double in the first quarter alone. He finished the game shooting 14 for 17 from the field with six offensive rebounds and three blocks … all in just under 27 minutes. Whiteside did not play in the fourth quarter.

"I would say that's coming out firing in the beginning," T.J. McConnell said. "I think that would probably be the difference right there." 

The Sixers were undermanned in the middle, which was magnified against Whiteside's talent level. Joel Embiid (right hand contusion) and Jahlil Okafor (right knee soreness) did not play. Nerlens Noel started after missing the last game with an upper respiratory infection, but was limited to only 20 minutes as his illness lingered. The sporadically-utilized Richaun Holmes played 24 minutes while power forward Ersan Ilyasova also filled the role when the Sixers went small. 

"I give him a lot of credit the way he just took over the game," Brett Brown said of Whiteside. "(His stat line) is beyond dominating. Maybe with more healthy bodies you could have competed a little bit more, but I don't want to take anything away from him. That was an incredibly impactful performance and an incredibly impactful first half that he had."

This is not the first time Whiteside ran up the scoreboard against the Sixers. In fact, two of his three 30-plus performances this season came against them. Whiteside dropped 32 points and 13 rebounds in the Sixers' Nov. 21 victory in Philadelphia. Embiid and Okafor played in that game. The Sixers have their biggest struggles when Embiid is not playing, but Whiteside didn't see his absence as a main factor. 

Instead, he looked to the recent success of the Heat. Both teams had four wins the last time they played, a ways back from the Heat's current 10-game winning streak and the Sixers' 10-5 month of January.

"I don't really think it was really different (without Embiid)," Whiteside said. "I think I had 34 [32] last time, so it wasn't anything too much different about it. I think the rest of the team is different. We've got a different team. Our team is a lot more together. But as far as scoring, I had 30-plus last time we played against them."

Whiteside won't have to wait too long before facing the Sixers again. The teams will face off in Philadelphia in just a week on Feb. 11. Embiid's status remains to be determined for the upcoming home games. He has missed the last four games and will not play Monday in Detroit. The last time they competed against each other, Embiid and Whiteside spoke about the importance of the big man in the NBA and Embiid ecnouraged Whiteside to "keep killing it." During the All-Star voting, however, Whiteside spoke out about the selection process and Embiid responded on social media. 

However their next matchup plays out, expect it to be a hard-fought battle.

"They are very well coached," Whiteside said. "They are a tough, gritty team. I knew they weren't going to give up."