Valanciunas out and Whiteside likely out for series

[Eddie20]

RaptorsMR
‏@RaptorsMR   
The Raptors announced Sunday centre Jonas Valanciunas will miss the remainder of the series vs. Miami with a sprained right ankle. #RTZ

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-heat/sfl-miami-heat-hassan-whiteside-s050816-story.html

Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside has been diagnosed with a sprained  medial collateral ligament in his right knee and is listed by the team as day-to-day.

The real question, with such an injury typically taking weeks to heal, is whether Whiteside's season is over and possibly, depending on what happens in free agency, his NBA career in South Florida.

Left to pick up the immediate pieces are the Heat with a 2-1 deficit in their best-of-seven NBA Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series  the Toronto Raptors.

Injured early in the second quarter of Saturday's 95-91 loss at AmericanAirlines Arena that dropped the Heat to their series deficit, Whiteside underwent an MRI on Sunday after X-rays came back negative Saturday for what the Heat initially classified as a twisted right knee.

While Washington Wizards guard John Wall missed no time with an MCL sprain this last season and Dallas Mavericks guard Deron Williams missed only one game with such an injury earlier this season, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry has missed the past two weeks with a Grade 1 MCL sprain, the least serious grade. The Heat have not released the level of Whiteside's sprain. Other players have missed a month or more with an MCL sprain.


Whiteside becomes a free agent on July 1, with questions about whether the Heat would be willing to go to the expected $23.5 million salary for next season that the shot-blocking center is expected to command on the open market as part of a $100 million contract.

[SparzWizard]

Both starting centers? Thats crazy.

[Who]

Biyombo needs to attack the boards. He could win Toronto the series with his rebounding. Miami is very weak on the glass without Whiteside + Bosh. It's wide-open for a guy like Biyombo to take advantage. Looking forward to seeing whether Biyombo has the mentality to attack & punish that weaknesses.

[j804]

Cleveland with a cake walk to the finals licking their chops. Yuck.

[Roy H.]

Cleveland with a cake walk to the finals licking their chops. Yuck.

Cleveland is going to have a cake walk either way.

[PhoSita]

Weak.

I can't wait until the East is interesting again.

It really hurts that all of the young superstars are ending up West.  Perpetual cycle.

AD, Towns, Wiggins, Cousins.

I hope Simmons and Ingram both end up in the East.

[Eddie20]

Cleveland with a cake walk to the finals licking their chops. Yuck.

Cleveland is going to have a cake walk either way.

I agree, but a healthy JV would make it nearly impossible for the Cavs to use that ultimate stretch 4/5 duo of Love and Frye. He would pound them inside. Plus, Irving is such a weak defender that I feel Lowry can really cause havoc with his penetration.

[Smitty77]

Biyombo needs to attack the boards. He could win Toronto the series with his rebounding. Miami is very weak on the glass without Whiteside + Bosh. It's wide-open for a guy like Biyombo to take advantage. Looking forward to seeing whether Biyombo has the mentality to attack & punish that weaknesses.

Totally agree Who.  It is BIZ time:-)))

Smitty77

[PhoSita]

Agreed, this is Biyombos time to show he can be a starting center on a good team.

[greece66]

MIA with Whiteside would have been a fun series against CLE; maybe not competitive but at least fun to watch...

[Moranis]

Cleveland with a cake walk to the finals licking their chops. Yuck.

Cleveland is going to have a cake walk either way.

I agree, but a healthy JV would make it nearly impossible for the Cavs to use that ultimate stretch 4/5 duo of Love and Frye. He would pound them inside. Plus, Irving is such a weak defender that I feel Lowry can really cause havoc with his penetration.

So they just put Mozgov in more, who obviously isn't a stretch type guy but certainly has his moments. 

Cleveland was never going to lose in the East as long as James stays healthy. 

[pearljammer10]

Unfortunate for JV. Casey was finally giving him some trust and letting him go and JV was running away with the opportunity.

[chilidawg]

Cleveland with a cake walk to the finals licking their chops. Yuck.

Cleveland is going to have a cake walk either way.

I agree, but a healthy JV would make it nearly impossible for the Cavs to use that ultimate stretch 4/5 duo of Love and Frye. He would pound them inside. Plus, Irving is such a weak defender that I feel Lowry can really cause havoc with his penetration.

More likely Cleveland's small ball would render JV useless defensively, and he'd end up on the bench.  That's what happened to Mozgov in last year's finals.

[greece66]

JV will have to rest for 30+ days, so playoffs are over for him

http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/raptors-valanciunas-mri-wasnt-best-results-expected/