Whiteside ruled out for Game 7 vs. Raptors

The Miami Heat will continue to be without the services of center Hassan Whiteside when they face yet another Game 7 matchup in the NBA playoffs.

Whiteside informed reporters Friday that he'll travel with the team north of the border to Toronto for Sunday's game against the Raptors. However, he won't suit up, meaning he'll miss his fourth straight outing.

The soon-to-be unrestricted free agent was diagnosed with a first-degree MCL sprain in his right knee after leaving Game 3 with the injury. He'll finish the series with averages of 9.3 points on 62.5 percent shooting, 9.7 blocks, and 1.3 rejections in 29 minutes per game.

The Heat are coming off a do-or-die victory in Game 6 on Friday at the American Airlines Arena in which they defeated the Raptors 103-91. A small-ball lineup with Luol Deng manning the five spot brought the team great success, and will likely be deployed once again on Sunday.