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The Miami Heat will get their starting center Hassan Whiteside back on the fold tonight against their in-state rivals Orlando Magic, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
Whiteside had been out with an illness for Saturday's tilt against the new-look Detroit Pistons, as the Heat dropped their third straight games after losses to the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Heat's big man has been scuffing as of late, logging only single digits scoring in four of his last five games, three of which have resulted in losses.
The 28-year-old was just starting to get into a groove with three 20-plus-point games at the middle of the month, but his touches in the post have regressed, giving him less opportunities to find looks close to the rim.
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Miami has won only four of the last 10 games and precipitously fallen to the seventh spot, after holding the fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings earlier last week.
With only two games separating third and seventh place, the race will be more hard-fought than ever before and it will be up to Whiteside to step up and propel this team to a higher seed during the last 29 games of the season.
At 29-24, the Heat have a sizable distance with the eighth place Sixers, but will need to make the most of Whiteside's presence to yield results in the coming games.
Coming back from a road trip, the Heat will face the Magic, the Houston Rockets, and the Milwaukee Bucks at home before going back on the road next week.
