Sunday afternoon, the NBA began its lengthy 10 hour schedule of games with a United Center match-up featuring the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls.
Over the last decade, both teams have developed a rivalry that began during the Shaquille O’Neal days and reached peak popularity during LeBron James’ time in South Beach. While many were expecting a Bulls blowout today, the Heat shocked everybody with an upset victory.
After their 20-plus point loss Monday to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago was fresh off their back-to-back double-digit routing of both the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks – they briefly ended talks of the team in turmoil. Up and coming Center, Hassan Whiteside was originally set to see minimal action today on a bad ankle, but the 25-year-old 7 footer played through the pain to send a message to the rest of the league.
With Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh leading all scorers, Whiteside made every second of his 25-minutes count getting his first ever NBA triple double. However, the big story of the game today was his impact on the defensive end, which he managed to get a Heat franchise record of 12 blocks off the bench. To compliment his team career outing, Whiteside tallied 14 points and 13 rebounds to land a triple double. After bouncing the D-league in recent years and even a stint in China, Hassan may have found a home for good in Florida.
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