Hassan Whiteside Gashes Hand On Rim, Requires 10 Stitches

This looks like a pretty innocuous basketball play that happens a dozen times a game, but somehow Heat center Hassan Whiteside messed up his hand on the rim pretty badly. Via the Palm Beach Post:

Equally bad news for the Heat (32-38) was the loss of Hassan Whiteside, who suffered a major laceration on his right hand and exited in the middle of the second quarter. He went up for a block on Miles Plumlee and sliced himself on the underside of the rim between his middle and ring finger. He needed 10 stitches and is in question for another crucial matchup Wednesday in Boston (7:30 p.m., Sun Sports).

The training staff numbed Whiteside with painkillers and wrapped his right hand — his shooting hand — heavily. The Heat are unsure whether he can play through it on such a short turnaround.

"You've gotta be careful because you don't want to open it back up and get it infected," Whiteside said. "It made a big gash near my knuckle. I looked at my hand and I knew it was deep."

While some of his Heat teammates have seemed fed up with Whiteside at times, they'll have to hope he recovers quickly. Miami is in a dogfight to qualify for the playoffs, with four teams within two-and-a-half games of them, and they might need every single one of Whiteside's blocks and rebounds to make it.

[ Palm Beach Post]

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