The Miami HEAT defeated the Brooklyn Nets 121-100 Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. Hassan Whiteside led the way for the HEAT with 21 points.
1. Whiteside Feasts
With Brook Lopez out due to rest, Whiteside went to work early and often in the post. In fact, the 27-year-old converted his first five field goals and tallied a double-double in the first half with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
During a flurry towards the end of the second quarter, Whiteside made his presence felt on the break. Once Tyler Johnson grabbed the defensive rebound with a shade under 50 seconds left in the period, Whiteside ran the floor. Because of that, Goran Dragić eventually found him for the thunderous one-handed jam over Bojan Bogdanovic.
As usual, Whiteside did his thing on the defensive end too. While he protected the rim well, he also came out to the perimeter to contest jump shots. On one such instance with 5:04 to go in the first quarter, he swatted Luis Scola at the three-point line.
In addition to his 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting, Whiteside also amassed 14 rebounds (five offensive) and four blocks.
2. Dragić Pushes the Pace As Usual
To no one’s surprise, Dragić pushed the pace whenever the opportunity presented itself on Tuesday night. As a result, the Slovenian led the team with 11 assists and set up his teammates very well all evening.
One of his more impressive plays in transition came with 5:15 left in the second quarter. It was at that point when Dragić recovered well from a Scola screen and forced a miss from Greivis Vasquez. Once Dragić corralled the rebound, he raced down court, shook Sean Kilpatrick out of his shoes and finished the fast break finger-roll.
The Dragon was also aggressive in the half court, attacking the basket and finishing at the rim like only he can. For a perfect example of that, look no further than his bucket with about four and a half minutes to play in the third quarter.
To initiate the sequence, the point guard drove past Isaiah Whitehead before hitting Justin Hamilton with the gorgeous spin move and finishing the play.
In addition to his 11 assists, Dragić also totaled 17 points and four rebounds on 7-of-12 shooting.
3. New Guys Find the Range
Two of Miami’s newcomers, Wayne Ellington and Derrick Williams, looked very comfortable against the Nets. Thanks to the hot shooting of both, the HEAT blew the game wide open and outscored Brooklyn 38-17 in the third quarter.
Ellington finished with 14 points and three boards on 5-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-8 from distance. Williams, meanwhile, totaled 10 points and six rebounds on 4-of-8 shooting. The 25-year-old also led the team with a plus-37 rating.
Other Takeaways:
In addition to Ellington and Williams, Tyler Johnson also had a big third period. The 24-year-old scored eight points in the third and got to the free-throw line all game. In short, it was good to see Johnson carry over his sharp play from the Red, White & Pink Game. In all on Tuesday night, the combo guard had 14 points and three assists on 4-of-7 shooting and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Game Note:
-Stefan Janković (sprained right foot), Josh McRoberts (right foot) and Josh Richardson (right MCL sprain) all sat out.