Heat’s Hassan Whiteside is day to day, but Raptors’ Jonas Valanciunas is done for series
Heat center Hassan Whiteside (21) is attended by a team member after he was injured during the first half of Game 3 against the Raptors.
Miami’s Hassan Whiteside and Toronto’s Jonas Valanciunas won’t square off anymore in the Heat-Raptors Eastern Conference semifinal series.
And as the games get bigger, the lineups will be smaller.
Whiteside is considered day to day with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee, and Valanciunas will miss the rest of the series with a sprained right ankle. Both starting centers were injured in Game 3 of the series Saturday, and both got the news about their immediate futures in MRI exams that were performed Sunday.
“Hassan was thrilled with the news,†Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Neither one of us slept much last night.â€
Miami listed Whiteside as questionable for Monday’s Game 4 of the series, which Toronto leads 2-1. The results of his MRI exam came out not long before Toronto said Valanciunas would miss the rest of the series, with no firmer timetable offered should the Raptors advance.
“Big, big, big, big, big blow for us,†Raptors General Manager Masai Ujiri said. “Big blow for JV. But you know what? This is the life in the NBA and we carry on.â€
Wade plays down incident
Dwyane Wade’s pregame routine has sparked a bit of an international incident, with some Canadians saying that he disrespected their national anthem.
The Heat star was the subject of much scorn after video showed him taking a few extra warmup shots as “O Canada†was performed before Game 3 of the series.
Wade tends to not line up for the pregame anthem ceremony without making his last shot, usually a bank shot from the right wing — even when only “The Star-Spangled Banner†is to played before home games. Video showed that he did not take his spot standing with teammates until about 20 seconds into the playing of the Canadian anthem Saturday.
“I’m not a disrespectful person,†Wade said. “So if anybody thinks I’m being disrespectful to a country, then they don’t know who Dwyane Wade is.â€
Wade said he’d adjust his pregame ritual for Game 4.
“We spoke to the team, and the Heat will work with its players to make sure no pregame routines interfere with either anthem going forward,†NBA spokesman Tim Frank said in a statement.
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