The Miami Heat certainly won’t be short on motivation entering Game 3.
Following a Game 2 loss which saw Miami blow a late six-point fourth quarter lead, Toronto Raptors shooting guard DeMar DeRozan added fuel to the fire with his postgame comments regarding center Jonas Valanciunas’ play versus Hassan Whiteside, via Jason Lieser:
“Been big. You can obviously see who’s the dominant big out there rebounding and scoring.”
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Valanciunas has certainly made an impact early on in this series. As arguably the team’s most consistent player during Game 2, the Lithuanian had 15 points and 12 rebounds in the win. While Whiteside is obviously the more dynamic blocker of the two, it was the Raptors big man who helped his team more in the closing moments of Thursday’s game.
For comparison’s sake, Valanciunas is averaging 19.5 points and 13.0 rebounds per game early on in this series in comparison to Whiteside’s 11.0 points and 15.0 rebounds per contest.
With the Heat hosting Game 3 on Sunday at American Airlines Arena, Whiteside will likely come out more aggressive after this subtle verbal shot from DeRozan. The 7-foot center has faced nothing but adversity early on in his career and has tended to respond well to challenges.
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