MILWAUKEE -- The Miami Heat not only suffered a stinging loss at the buzzer to the Milwaukee Bucks but they may have also lost center Hassan Whiteside for some time.
Whiteside needed 10 stitches to his right hand after suffering a gash between the middle and ring fingers on his hand. He sliced his hand hitting the rim and had to leave the game with 5:41 remaining in the second quarter of the Heat's 89-88 loss to Milwaukee at the Bradley Center.
Whiteside had his hand heavily bandaged and also said he got multiple shots to numb the pain in his hand. His availability for the Heat's game at Boston on Wednesday seems doubtful.
"I don't know if I am going to be able to play tomorrow," Whiteside said. "We are going to see how it feels, day to day."
"I can't feel my hand right now," Whiteside added. "I'll know tomorrow morning it will be throbbing and I will feel the pain a lot more."
Whiteside left the game with seven points, eight rebounds and two blocks. The Heat were outrebounded 53-34 by the Bucks, who stunned Miami by erasing a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit and winning the game on a Khris Middleton three-pointer at the buzzer.
Miami, already playing without Chris Bosh for the season, need Whiteside. The Heat (32-38) are fighting for a playoff spot and the 7-footer has been a revelation this season, entering Tuesday night's game averaging 11.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 62 percent shooting.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra said after the loss how severe the injury was to his starting center.
"You got to be careful with stitches," Whiteside said. "You don't want to open it up or get it infected. So they basically said day to day ... we will see what happens."