Whiteside won’t return for Heat against Raptors in NBA showdown

Miami (AFP) – Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside will not play Sunday in Toronto in a one-game showdown to see which team advances to face Cleveland in the NBA Eastern Conference finals.

Whiteside has not played since suffering a sprained right knee ligament in the second quarter of game three in the best-of-seven playoff series, which the Heat evened at 3-3 with a 103-91 victory on Friday.

“I can’t really put a measurement on it,” Whiteside said of a timetable for his return. “It just really depends on what the doctors say and how everything is feeling. I don’t really want to make anything worse.”

Whiteside hopes the Heat can eliminate the Raptors and advance to a showdown with the Cavaliers, who host game one of the East final on Tuesday.

“We’ve got a lot of talented guys. I believe in them,” Whiteside said. “They played amazing.”