Israel Gutierrez, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Whiteside: From nice story to necessity

MIAMI -- There was a moment in the second half of Wednesday's Los Angeles Lakers-Miami Heat contest when Hassan Whiteside looked as if he might wrestle again.

Monday against the Phoenix Suns, Whiteside's takedown of Alex Len cost him $15,000.

This time, when Ed Davis brought the Heat big man down with a rather routine foul, Whiteside restrained himself after quickly bouncing off the floor, walking away from Davis rather than throwing a shoulder into his waist.

There was another moment when Whiteside laid on the floor for an entire defensive possession after Jordan Hill caught him in the face with an elbow. Once again, Whiteside shook that off without incident.

The 25-year-old phenom did manage to tack on another technical foul to his tally, saying one too many words to an official on his way to the bench for a third-quarter timeout.

And it was there, in a five-point game, that, like in every other Heat game that means a lot to their playoff chances, Dwyane Wade let young Whiteside know it was time to simmer down and suck it up.

"It's my job to be on him," Wade said. "It's my job to let him go, as well, at certain times. But he respects me enough, from what I've done in this league and who I've played with in this league, to listen when I do approach him. We have a good relationship from that standpoint.

"When he gets mad enough, he'll dunk it over everybody, but with that, he's got to understand what's gonna come: some hard fouls. He's gonna have to go back and look at the Shaqs of the world, the guys before him that do things like that, and see how they had to present themselves and keep themselves calm. But he's very, very, very important to this team's success."

And this is where the Miami Heat are: a team in transition, again, that needs Whiteside to keep it together so this team can keep it together and reach the postseason in this tumultuous start to the post-LeBron James era. Because when Whiteside does keep his head, when he does brush off the hard fouls and the no-calls and ignores the fact he doesn't get post touches often, he can be dominant.

He was exactly that Wednesday, especially late in a game the Lakers tried to steal (or maybe a game they successfully gave away, depending on your theory on the Lakers' tanking efforts) in the final minutes.

After re-entering the game for the final time with 7:29 left in the fourth and the Lakers leading 84-81, Whiteside grabbed nine of his career-high 25 rebounds and scored eight of his 18 points, including a massive finish off a Wade lob with 57 seconds left. Whiteside added four blocks to his massive rebounding total, which is second only to Rony Seikaly's 34 for most boards in a game in Heat history.

But it was the emotional restraint -- the type he didn't show when retaliating toward Len -- that allowed Whiteside to shine in the closer role.

"It just basically got to the point where there's nothing I can do," Whiteside said. "I can't control any of that. There ain't nothing I can do about the technical. It's just more money lost.

"Guys, they're gonna beat me up every day. I guess that's the scouting report."

Interestingly, there isn't much more of a scouting report to be had on Miami at the moment. Goran Dragic played just his seventh game with Miami, Wade is still shaking off the rust from his most recent hamstring-related layoff, and in-season additions Henry Walker, Michael Beasley and Tyler Johnson are getting regular minutes while learning on the fly.

It's all the more reason Whiteside has gone from inspirational story to absolute necessity for Miami.

There has been very little consistency in the Heat's game since Dragic made his Miami debut on Feb. 21. But in that 4-3 span for Miami, Whiteside has averaged 14.7 points, 15.6 rebounds, 2.9 blocks and shot 61 percent from the floor.

If he's doing that, Wade and Dragic can essentially take turns being aggressive and discovering a chemistry. And the Heat in general can unearth an identity while not falling out of the playoff picture.

Dragic said he paid attention to Whiteside while he was still playing with Phoenix, especially after Whiteside's triple-double game against the Bulls in Chicago on Jan. 25. The league's reigning most improved player said he never has played with anyone like Whiteside, however, and he's finding it very much to his liking.

"Maybe with Shaq, but he was already old," Dragic said with a laugh. "It's crazy. It looks so easy for him to get 20 points and 25 rebounds. It's unbelievable.

"This is my seventh game here, and it's much easier to get to the rim than in Phoenix because he's so dominant. The big guys have to make a decision, whether they're going to pick me or go back to him. And then, you just read it."

Based on that spectacular lob and finish in the game's final minute, it's safe to say Wade has a good grasp of reading defenses when running the pick-and-roll with Whiteside.

And Wade is starting to get a grasp of the type of talent he's playing alongside as well.

"He's what you call 'special,' " Wade said. "He's so long, man. Everything that comes off the rim, he gets an opportunity to touch it. They gotta put three guys on him, sometimes, to stop him."

On Monday, extra physical activity got Whiteside ejected. Wednesday, it brought out the best in him -- perhaps another sign of development in what has been a sudden and most impressive growth spurt.

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