The Golden State Warriors took a four-game winning streak into the Sprint Center at Kansas City, MO tonight against the Miami Heat, after a come-from-behind victory sparked by their bench players yesterday in Des Moines, IA.
With forty or so friends and family that made the drive from Chicago, IL, Andre Iguodala got the start after the Harrison Barnes homecoming 24 hours ago.
Marreese Speights went home to Tampa Bay, FL, to attend his grandfather’s funeral. David Lee and Andrew Bogut returned to the starting lineup.
FIRST QUARTER
Iguodala started out hot with an open jumper fed by a Bogut whip pass then a three-pointer. After an ever-more-familiar left-handed attack by Klay Thompson that led to a nice little drop-off to Lee for a layup, Bogut also got a steal and fed Stephen Curry for a breakaway, “yes-of-course-I-can-dunk” slam.
At the line, Bogut tried some more lefty free throws again, but missed both.
Kansas City native Brandon Rush was the first Warrior off the bench, but missed an alley-oop from Curry that, fortunately for the Dubs, led to a three-pointer by Draymond Green. However, Rush got on the board with a goal-tending call on the Heat.
At the end of the first frame, the Heat led 27-23.
SECOND QUARTER
Rush continued to collect a few points for his hometown crowd, getting fouled on a jumper and making both free throws. Then, Aaron Craft got an opportunity for playing time and made the most of it, getting some help from Green in the process.
After dribbling into the lane left-handed with the shotclock winding down, Craft “craftily” lofted the ball high off the backboard with his left hand and converted the layup. Then Green rattled home a three, assisted by Bogut. Craft made a trey from the top of the circle, although his suspect release was on full display.
Green capped that off with a one-handed hammer over Luol Deng, even giving him a little stare down in the process.
Craft was diving for loose balls and Bogut was improving his defense after giving up two early dunks to Chris Bosh, holding Bosh to 0-for-4 since then.
On the offensive end, Bogut continued to rack up the assists. He got his 4th dime after a “tic-tac-toe” left-handed interior feed to Lee that was initiated by Curry.
Curry also fed Thompson with a left-handed behind-the-back pass on a fastbreak that Thompson smashed with one hand.
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On the radio broadcast, Warriors general manager Bob Myers laughed in reaction to Curry’s behind-the-back pass: “Oh, that’s fun, preseason basketball.”
The Warriors had 17 points off 11 Heat turnovers at that point, up 56-47 at the half. Lee amassed 16 points and 3 rebounds. Green added 9 points, Thompson had 7 points and 5 assists, Bogut had 4 rebounds and 4 assists, and Curry had 5 assists.
Deng led the Heat with 12 points and Dwyane Wade who had been scored on on three consecutive trips late in the second quarter, added 8 points.
THIRD QUARTER
Warriors PR announced that Rush had lower back spasms and would miss the rest of the game.
The offensive execution was still clicking even though the #SplashBrothers actually shot airballs on consecutive sequences, something you don’t see everyday.
A beautiful play with the motion offense in which there was some misdirection cuts towards the ball on the left elbow, epitomized the kind of night the Warriors were having in terms of proper execution. Curry ended up dribbling from the left elbow towards the top of the key, when he spotted a momentary opening with Bogut on the opposite side of the rim. A surprise lob to Bogut from Curry went too far behind Bogut, but the 7-foot center reached back and delivered a touch pass to Lee at the basket.
Things were humming and the Warriors were up, 74-63, with 7:27 to go in the 3rd. Bogut had not scored, but tallied 4 rebounds and 7 assists. Curry, Thompson, and Bogut had 17 assists between them.
Lee couldn’t miss, not even his suspect elbow jumper from last season. As he received a pass on the pinch post in the Triangle-like set, and as both players on that strong side cut past him, reminiscent of Michael Jordan‘s Chicago Bulls executing Tex Winters‘ offense with either Bill Cartwright or Luc Longley, Lee squared to the basket and drilled the jumper.
The Heat announcers were absolutely gushing over how the Warriors were playing and what Kerr was doing with the new system.
As Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra called timeout to break the momentum, members of the Kansas City Royals were introduced, with the Warriors players looking on.
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Bogut shot two more lefty free throws, the first of which converted, but the second of which was an airball. It was Warriors 95, Heat 83, after three quarters. Eighteen of the Warriors’ 39 third-period points came from Thompson, who often was defended by Wade.
FOURTH QUARTER
With the Warriors ahead, 97-90, with 8:47 to go, and with the Heat winless in four preseason tries, Spoelstra decided to go for a win, re-inserting Bosh and Wade as Bogut left the floor.
However, Curry and Thompson came back in along with Lee. Curry made a pump-fake-reload three-pointer that the Heat play-by-play announcer described as “shoe-horned in” with a high degree of difficulty.
But Mario Chalmers and Shabazz Napier hit back-to-back treys and Kerr had no choice but to call timeout. Just like that, the Heat took a 106-102 lead with 4:43 to go.
The Warriors continued to execute the offense and got good looks, but didn’t make any of them. Curry airballed, Thompson missed a three, got his own rebound, then missed the follow-up running jumper, and Lee turned it over. Later, down six and coming down the court in early offense, Lee tried to find Thompson for a three-pointer, but good defense by the Heat prevented Thompson from creating. Barnes found himself with the ball up top and unsure of what move to make. Kerr called a timeout.
Once again, the Warriors executed the play to perfection, but, once again, one of the #SplashBrothers couldn’t convert. Meanwhile, Shawne Williams drilled yet another trey for the Heat and by then the Warriors had run out of time, turning the ball over once more as James McAdoo was caught on an island at the deep left elbow with no one cutting towards the basket.
The Heat won, 115-108, to go 1-4 in the preseason as the Warriors dropped to 4-1. Thompson led all scorers with 29 points on 10-for-21 from the field, 4-for-9 from beyond the arc, 5 assists, another blocked shot, and no turnovers. Lee finished 11-for-11 from the field for 24 points and 6 rebounds. Bogut had just 1 point but tallied 7 assists. Curry shot a woeful 2-for-10 and 1-for-7 downtown. Nemanja Nedovic and Ognjen Kuzmic did not play.
The Warriors will face the Houston Rockets in Hidalgo, TX, on Sunday at 5:00PM Pacific time.
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