Miami Heat Rumors: Hassan Whiteside Regaining Grounds After DeMar De Rozan's Comment

The Miami Heat is certainly getting a lot of motivation from Toronto Raptor DeMar DeRozan after the shooting guard's recent postgame comment against Hassan Whiteside as he compared the Miami center against Toronto's very own Jonas Valanciunas. His fiery statement seems to have fueled an even more determined Whiteside to help widen Heat's lead in the best-of-seven series.

"Been big. You can obviously see who's the dominant big out there rebounding and scoring," remarked DeRozan who sounded unimpressed by Whiteside's court performance as center player as quoted by Heat Nation.

The Lithuanian big man certainly had talent to speak of Raptors center. He played quite consistently in Game 2 after scoring 15 points and 12 rebounds to make Toronto win. Whiteside, on the other hand, is probably more dynamic as court blocker. However, it was Valanciunas who contributed much in Thursday's game's closing moments. Furthermore, the Toronto center averages 19.5 points and 13.0 rebounds per game in the series compared to Miami counterpart's 11.0-point average and 15.0 rebounds per game.

Hassan Whiteside responded verbally last Friday. But his more significant response came on Saturday's Game 3 when Miami retook the lead.

"Last time I checked, I'm averaging more rebounds," Whiteside commented feeling more driven as per Miami Herald. "I like that he said. ... We're winning the rebounding battle regardless of what anybody thinks."

Meanwhile, in an interesting twist of fate, both Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors decided to pull out their centers from the remainder of Game 3 following their big men's injuries, ESPN reported.

Hassan Whiteside fell to the floor after doing an offensive rebound and will subsequently have an MRI scan to determine serious long-term damage to the ligament. Likewise, Jonas Valanciunas had to be rested in third quarter after getting a sprain on his right ankle.