7:30 PM ET, January 20, 2015 AmericanAirlines Arena, Miami, FL Thunder-Heat

[MettaWorldPanda]

Shabazz got hosed by Spo tonight with only 16 minutes. He needs to be out there for 30 plus like he did against Sacramento. Spo too worried about getting Colemers time with Wade back.

[JLop]

"Miami lost starting center Hassan Whiteside in the second quarter to a sprained right ankle. X-rays were negative. Whiteside finished with 10 points on 5 for 5 shooting - three of them dunks - in 11 minutes. He was not expected to fly with the team to Charlotte for a game Wednesday night."

Full article:
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20150120_OKC@MIA/thunder-finally-get-over-500-mark-top-heat-94-86

X-rays are positive means the leg is broken! They are negative usually. I just hope that it's not one of those nagging high ankle sprains or something bad... it took Bosh a week or two with a HAS.. even Durant missed a lot of games because of what appeared to be simple ankle sprains in the past.

Whiteside is currently listed as day-to-day, but I do not expect Spoelstra to rush his return. However, Whiteside has clearly proven valuable to Miami, as he has emerged as a low-post threat. South Beach will keep their fingers crossed, because the Heat playoff hopes may just rest with the 25 year old out of Marshall.


Full article:
http://www.rantsports.com/nba/2015/01/20/hassan-whiteside-injury-allows-oklahoma-city-thunder-to-prevail-over-miami-heat/

[gom]

Shabazz had trouble penetrating too. We really didn't have any more weapons after we stopped lobbing it to the centers. When we do that they have to mark inside, but otherwise they can stack the perimeter and keep us out. There was a good stretch with Haslem as center when we really couldn't get anything to happen. Tough, tough game. We did better than I expected but worse than I hoped.

[DefenseWins]

Shabazz got hosed by Spo tonight with only 16 minutes. He needs to be out there for 30 plus like he did against Sacramento. Spo too worried about getting Colemers time with Wade back.

he turned it over, got blown by, turned it over and I knew that would be the end of that

thats when Spo put in Cole and Cole got the team back in the game alone

I was shocked lmao, he actually played aggressively. He played like how he use to when he would be a spark. Well that warranted him playing over Rio and Bazz. He wanted to fight for his playing time again

Thing is Cole was also apart of us being down too... so...

we just dont have enough options, this teams talent cant get them easy buckets.

Atleast they were really good in transition defense today, this could have been a lot worse earlier. They really fought but not enough scoring. Late game execution is awful, and the defense just broke down, more turn overs. Spo rides the wave so to speak, if someone is doing fine he sticks with them. If not, he tries different things. He did that with Granger who actually hit shots today. Before Granger was on a leash when he played bad.

[DWadeno3]

Very unnecessary loss, rebounding and turnovers killed us, both categories could've been avoided with more effort and smarter play. I'm still surprised how we sometimes offer steals up to opposing teams.
On the bright side, our defense was decent and seems to be improving. Our offense will hopefully return to better levels once Wade has found a rhythm. He just needs to stay healthy.

[Amorphous Blob]

From what I've seen Whiteside probably comes back pretty quick since it wasn't too serious.

[caliban]

Awful turnovers and individual mishaps did us in, nothing new. There's some positives there on the defensive end for sure but without the Great White we're no more then a doughnut-team without the necessary presence around the basket. Such a shame, they had no answer for Whiteside when he got the ball down low and it would have been nice to get a win at our homecoming.

[MettaWorldPanda]

No Deng tonight either. We are snake bitten

[dancing2thabeet]

Sooner rather than later, we gotta start winning these 50/50 games or else we ain't seeing the playoffs.

[HIF]

Turnovers in the first q were terrible.

Losing Whiteside was a disaster.

Yet we were Wade's fouled shot away from taking the lead in the 4th - and then we crumbled.

Wade shouldn't have lost his attention after the call. Bosh didn't step up enough. Bird really should get more rebounds, Ennis didn't get on the court.

On the positive side Deng defended KD well even though he was sick. Cole had a great few mins in the 4th, Granger hit a shot.

A game that we could've won against an elite opponent and didn't.

[Flash4thewin]

At least it wasnt a double digit loss so i guess thats some progress compared to earlier. I still dont know what to think of this team. For some spurt it seems like we can play with anyone, then at times we look clueless.

[heat4life]

Birdman looked over-matched. Whiteside was the only one keeping players off the paint. Bosh was passive again. I want to see him demand the ball and make a move for a score or create an opportunity for Deng or one of the others. No shooters on the floor doesn't help either. Chalmers needs to find his stroke.

[heat4life]

Birdman looked over-matched. Whiteside was the only one keeping players off the paint. Bosh was passive again. I want to see him demand the ball and make a move for a score or create an opportunity for Deng or one of the others. No shooters on the floor doesn't help either. Chalmers needs to find his stroke.

[DWadeno3]

Birdman looked over-matched. Whiteside was the only one keeping players off the paint. Bosh was passive again. I want to see him demand the ball and make a move for a score or create an opportunity for Deng or one of the others. No shooters on the floor doesn't help either. Chalmers needs to find his stroke.

Most importantly I want Bosh to be more of a defensive force. His help defense has seen better days. He just watches on a lot.

[Heat_Fan_87]

games like this make us look old.

[DefenseWins]

games like this make us look old.

Cause we are

Going into this season with so many vets has been a huge mistake. We don't need vets, not with UD, Deng, Bosh, Wade, Bird on the roster