Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside has started to see less of the basketball floor in crunch time.

As one of the team's best players — and the team's highest-paid — it would be confusing to most fans why Whiteside isn't closing games and getting an opportunity to impact the end of games. But apparently, the numbers favor coach Eric Spoelstra's decision to sit Whiteside in these clutch moments, per Manny Navarro of the Miami Herald.

The numbers show (Kelly) Olynyk, who has started alongside Whiteside at power forward since his return, and (James) Johnson, who has started 11 games at power forward, have been the Heat’s most productive frontcourt combination. They’ve logged more minutes together (405) than any other frontcourt pairing and Miami has outscored opponents by 38 points when they’ve been on the floor together, the sixth-best two-man combination on the team when it comes to plus-minus.

Those numbers are significant, especially when considering that when Whiteside plays with either Olynyk or James, the numbers are much worse. In a recent game, Whiteside did not play the fourth quarter and the Heat won, giving Miami the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and currently a 21-17 record.

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Whiteside did not seem to mind that he didn't play down the stretch of that game, so long as the team won, per Navarro.

“That’s what it’s looking like,” Whiteside answered when asked if the ‘hot hand’ will be who plays down the stretch of games. “It’s looking like he’s running just different people. That’s what it's looking like. But you know we got the win. We’re fifth in the East now. So, let’s keep it going.”

Many players want to finish games and believe they should. But if the team's winning, it's hard to argue with those decisions.