Hassan Whiteside posts triple-double as Heat hold off Hornets

C Hassan Whiteside tallied 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks in the Heat’s win at Charlotte on Friday.

Hassan Whiteside had another big impact off the bench in a total team victory against a tenacious Hornets team.

The Miami Heat have won five out of their last six games, with four of them on the road; their hot streak came at quite the opportune time, following a four game losing streak.

-After being scoreless in the first quarter, Wade picked it up in the second. Nicolas Batum knocked down 21 points, six rebounds and team highs in both assists (seven) and blocks (three)… I do NOT expect the Heat to bring their A-game tonight, or anything close! “500 on the road”, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. His 10th block of the night was also his 10th rebound as he snatched a Marvin Williams shot out of the air. After a Walker pull-up jumper put the Hornets ahead 93-90, Wade’s twisting, falling shot cut the lead to one with 61 seconds left and set up a final minute dominated by the Heat (29-22). The Heat went 8-8 in that stretch. Missing their leading scorer in PG Kemba Walker, Charlotte desperately needed their players to step up offensively, and they got exactly what they wanted. Goran Dragic had near triple-double with 12 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds for the game.

Game NotesHall-of-Famer, Alonzo Mourning, was honored at halftime.

“Those two will be the Heat”™s only representatives at All-Star Weekend in Toronto, with rookie Justise Winslow bypassed for the Rising Stars game and no Heat players selected for the Verizon Slam Dunk or the Skills Challenge. “I’m very thankful I started my career here”, Mourning said. Yes, Al Jefferson is still hurt, and Kemba Walker and Nic Batum have been dealing with injuries, but this just felt like one of those games you win if your team is going to make any noise at all in the post season. That is big time production in limited minutes but that is what Stoudemire brings to the table at this point in his career and it is extremely helpful.

Hornets: Host the Wizards on Saturday night. He was back in the starting lineup Friday…. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh combined for 42 points, but it was Hassan Whiteside’s efforts that stole the show. A 13-4 run led by Whiteside and Bosh helped the Heat re-take the lead at 78-77 with nine minutes left in the game. The Hornets actually made more 3PTs (10) than Heat 3PT attempts (9). “I’m not aware of a lot of things”, he quipped.