Whiteside out of Game 4, won’t undergo surgery

12:43 PM ET

MIAMI — Hassan Whiteside won’t pursue season-ending surgery for the knee injury that will keep him out of the Heat’s playoff game Monday against the Raptors, coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Whiteside, 26, re-injured his already problematic right knee in the second quarter of Saturday’s Game 3 when he fell to the court amid contact from Heat teammate Luol Deng and Raptors guard Kyle Lowry in Miami’s 95-91 loss to Toronto. Whiteside did not return to the game, and an MRI on Sunday revealed he had a strained MCL in his right knee.

The Heat didn’t initially set a timeframe for Whiteside’s return other than to list him as “day-to-day,” but Spoelstra ruled the NBA’s leading shot-blocker out for Game 4 after the Heat’s Monday morning shootaround. Spoelstra also said that Whiteside and the team have considered various treatment options but decided against pursuing season-ending surgery.

“Obviously, all of us were very concerned when we left the building (Saturday),” Spoelstra said Monday. “You try …

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