Five Stars: Spurred

Five Stars is a series where we rate and rank every player in every Heat game throughout the season. Using the GameScore metric, the top five players from each game make the Five Stars, regardless of team affiliation. The seasonal standings, at the bottom of the page, is the collected results from the Heat only. First Star gets 10 points for a win, nine points for a loss. Second Star gets eight points for a win, seven for a loss, and so on.

First Star

Hassan Whiteside (MIA) 27.6

Whiteside earned his third double-double in his first three games this season, with 27 points and 15 rebounds. He made 10-of-15 shots in 34 minutes and seven-of-10 from the foul stripe, adding four blocks, an assist, and a steal to earn his first “First Star” of the season. His plus-seven rating was the best on the Heat.

You absolutely respect and enjoy how San Antonio just finds a way to stay ahead of the curve, continue to reinvent and be incredibly efficient. - Heat coach Erik Spoelstra

Second Star

Kawhi Leonard (SAS) 20.2

Leonard played 29 minutes and led the Spurs with 27 points on eight-of-16 shooting, making one-of-three from outside and 10-of-12 from the line. He had six helpers, two defensive rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot, with a game-high plus-12 rating.

It wasn't anything with my eye or retina or anything, just under my eye, I got a little cut. - Leonard, who had to have his eye worked on while Miami came back to briefly take the lead in the fourth quarter.

Third Star

Goran Dragic (MIA) 18.8

Dragic played for 34 minutes, matching Whiteside for second on the team (both due to foul trouble in the first half). Dragic drained nine-of-17 from the field and three-of-seven from deep, also making four-of-six from the free throw line. He had a team-high five assists, a plus-six rating, three defensive rebounds and a steal.

They made some tough shots, but I feel like we defended well. - Dragic

Fourth Star

Pau Gasol (SAS) 17.8

Gasol, who came into the game averaging six points and six rebounds in his first three games of the season, earned the Fourth Star by scoring 20 points with 11 rebounds for San Antonio’s only double-double of the game. He made nine-of-18 from the floor, one-of-two from outside and one-of-two from the line, making exactly half of each type of shot. Three of his rebounds were offensive, and he added three assists and two blocked shots over his 31 minutes on the floor.

I thought we hung in there tough on the road, that was the best part of the game. We didn't give in. - Spurs coach Gregg Popovich

Fifth Star

Justise Winslow (MIA) 13.7

Winslow led the Heat with 39 minutes on the floor, and scored 18 points with five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot. He made seven-of-15 shots from the field and four-of-five from the line, missing all three of his three-pointers. He posted a minus-2 rating and is now one-for-11 on the season from deep.

Notable

Dewayne Dedmon (SAS) 9.0 (in 16 minutes)

Dedmon scored nine points with eight rebounds in 16 minutes, earning the highest non-Five Star GameScore per minute.

Sunday’s Worst

Rodney McGruder (MIA) -2.2

Like Dedmon, McGruder played 16 minutes, but he didn’t have nearly the same results. In a performance reminiscent of Gerald Green (in several games last season), McGruder went 0-for-2 from the field and committed two personal fouls. That’s it. No rebounds, no assists, no blocks, no steals, and no points. How do you get a statline of 0/0/0/0/0 in 16 minutes? Ask McGruder.

Seasonal Standings

Hassan Whiteside 22
Tyler Johnson 8
Goran Dragic 8
Justise Winslow 3

Miami’s next opponent, the Sacramento Kings, will visit the AmericanAirlines Arena for a 7:30PM tipoff on Tuesday night.