Hassan Whiteside 2017-18 Season Rundown

The 2017-18 campaign was perhaps one of Hassan Whiteside’s toughest yet, as he just couldn’t gain much of a rhythm due to being in and out of the lineup with a handful of injuries.

Although things didn’t go the way he had hoped, Whiteside still came through with some strong performances during the course of the season.

Let’s take a look at some of those below.

From the onset, Whiteside was active and engaged in this one.

Not only did he break up a bunch of lob attempts intended for DeAndre Jordan, but he also protected the rim very well when L.A.’s guards attacked downhill.

On the flip side of the ball, Whiteside crashed the offensive glass and knocked down some smooth mid-range jumpers for good measure.

Still, his best play of the night came with three seconds left when he forced Blake Griffin into a miss from the perimeter.

Clutch.

When it was all said and done, Whiteside amassed a team-high 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting, a team-high 17 rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Although Whiteside punished the rim and did plenty of damage on both ends of the floor through three quarters, his best was still yet to come in this matchup.

Thanks to his aggressive approach, the big fella straight up abused Jason Smith and Marcin Gortat to the tune of 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the fourth.

In all, Whiteside tallied a team-high 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting, a team-high 16 boards and two blocks.

Remember, nobody is doing it with blocks.

Seriously though, Whiteside was just in another gear in this one, as he made nothing come easy for the Bucks and recorded a season-high six blocks. Yes, six.

While he essentially had his way with John Henson and Thon Maker, Whiteside’s best block came in crunch time against Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Of course, the 7-footer also utilized his strength advantage against Milwaukee’s thinner frontline and led the HEAT with a season-high 27 points on 10-of-12 shooting and 14 rebounds to go along with his aforementioned six blocks.

Whiteside simply exploded out of the gate in this contest and took it right at Dirk Nowitzki more often than not.

Thanks to that mismatch, the 28-year-old set the tone early with some key offensive rebounds and helped Miami pull away in the third with 10 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting.

Whiteside ended up leading the HEAT with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting and 14 rebounds (seven offensive).

With an elite center in Joel Embiid on the other side, Whiteside wasted little time to get going and hit his first four shots of the game. In addition to his usual finishes inside, the Marshall product also knocked down a couple jumpers and threw down a few dunks.

That was important obviously, but Whiteside was just as impactful on the defensive end with two blocks on Embiid.

At the end of the day, Whiteside led Miami with 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting and also had eight boards.