Heat center Hassan Whiteside may return tonight after missing nearly a month with a bone bruise in his left knee, according to a tweet from the team. Whiteside participated in this morning’s shootaround, and a decision on his status will be made after warmups.
Whiteside, who suffered the bone bruise in a November 28 game, had been upgraded to questionable on the team’s official injury report. He has missed 13 games, forcing the team to give more minutes at center to Kelly Olynyk and rookie Bam Adebayo.
Whiteside’s presence in the middle has been an important loss for the Heat, although they managed a 7-6 record without him. He provides a reliable double-double and intimidating defense, even though his numbers through 15 games were down slightly from last season at 14.9 points, 12.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.
A return by Whiteside would help ease the Heat’s injury problems, although Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel reports that forward James Johnson is back on the shelf with ankle bursitis. After missing three games, Johnson made a brief return Saturday before reaggravating the condition.