Blazers’ Whiteside, ‘I feel like I’m the best rim protector in the league’

The Trail Blazers secured a much-needed victory against the Wizards on Friday. In the win, Hassan Whiteside produced an impressive 20-20 double-double. Beyond his scoring and rebounding, the former Heat center recorded five blocks and impacted the action on the defensive end during his 33 minutes of playing time.

Following the victory, NBC Sports Northwest’s Jamie Hudson captured Whiteside’s thoughts on his performance. Along with mentioning an improved team effort, the 7-footer explained that he feels like he is the best rim protector in the NBA.

“I want to be a defensive anchor. Like I’ve said, I feel like I’m the best rim protector in the league and that’s not going away. We’ve just got to lock in better defensively overall. It’s a team effort and I feel like we did that tonight.”

Without Bradley Beal and Isaiah Thomas (for all but 90 seconds), the Wizards produced just 103 points when facing the Blazers’ defense. Prior to Friday, Washington averaged 116.2 points per game—good for the fourth-best average in the NBA over that stretch.

As for Whiteside, he is averaging a league-leading 2.8 blocks per game.