The Golden State Warriors blew out the Miami Heat at home, 97-80, which should hardly come as a surprise to anyone. However, it was quite shocking to see Heat center Hassan Whiteside playing just 16 minutes, with three points and six rebounds, even though he was healthy enough to play.

After the game, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra completely owned up to the decision to bench Whiteside for basically the entire second half.

Hassan Whiteside, who was playing his fourth game back from a bone bruise in his knee, had previously been confused about the limited minutes he’d received upon his return. He played just 26 and 24 minutes in his first two games. Although, he did get 31 minutes in the win over the L.A. Clippers the previous game, scoring 21 points with 17 rebounds, two blocks, and three steals.

However, he was nowhere near as effective against the Warriors on the second night of a back-to-back. The Heat big man was just 1-of-9 and minus-15 in his 16 minutes, which might be why Erik Spoelstra opted to go more with Kelly Olynyk and rookie Bam Adebayo during the second half.

Whatever his reasons, Spoelstra has some explaining to do to his star big man, who seems to have a certain expectation when it comes to the playing time he should get.