As soon as the Miami Heat clinched a playoff berth with a come-from-behind win over the Atlanta Hawks Tuesday night, the first words center Hassan Whiteside uttered to sideline reporter Jason Jackson in his postgame interview was how much he was looking forward to seeing a sea of white again inside AmericanAirlines Arena.
“I can’t wait for the White Hot fans, [to] look up in the crowd, see Heat Nation in all white,” said Whiteside, who got to experience it in the Heat’s playoff run two seasons ago when Miami pushed the Raptors to Game 7 in the Eastern Conference semifinals.