ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The Miami Heat (22-15) were in town to face the Golden State Warriors (35-2).
Leandro Barbosa was upgraded to “questionable” before the game. James McAdoo (toe) was out and Kevon Looney (hip surgery rehab) was on assignment in D-League.
The Heat were without Hassan Whiteside (knee) and Josh McRoberts (knee).
1st Quarter – Steph En Fuego From… Inside The Paint?
The Warriors got out to a rough start, shooting just 4-for-13 until the first timeout, where the Heat led 15-10, with 5:50 to play.
Stephen Curry hit his first three from the left side, assisted by Draymond Green, after Goran Dragic missed a trey attempt and Andrew Bogut quickly outlet to Green, who brought the ball up and found Curry in transition:
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Curry added a right side take of undrafted Mountain View-native Tyler Johnson, with the harm…
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…but Klay Thompson was just 1-for-4.
After the timeout, Steph drove down the left side and had a beautiful left scoop off board as he faked a pass to the left corner…
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…but Dwyane Wade came back quickly with a layup of his down, also down the left side.
Tyler Johnson followed that up with a dunk from a feed from Chris Bosh, and it was tight early on, 21-17, in favor of the Heat with 4:33 left.
Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton inserted Harrison Barnes and Golden State had its “death lineup” poised for a run, including Andre Iguodala to go along with Curry, Thompson, and Green.
Golden State tried to up the tempo, and Green got a dunk on a cut with the dish by Iguodala, but the Heat kept pace as Bosh drained two smooth jumpers.
Walton subbed in Shaun Livingston and Festus Ezeli after going less than a minute of “small ball” and Barnes swished an isolation pull up against Luol Deng.
Deng hit a jumper, drew a whistle for a potential “and-one”, but after replay review, the foul by Barnes was ruled on the floor, then the Heat committed a shotclock violation, which took the wind out of their sails.
The Warriors almost blew the roof off of #Roaracle as Iguodala made a spectacular defensive rebound, leaping in the air then, in one stride, going reverse between-the-legs on the dribble to find Curry open in transition on the right wing, but Steph back-rimmed the shot.
Miami had trouble making shots and Curry ended the quarter with a sweeping drive from right to left, ending with a nice finger roll with a high release point with 1.5 seconds remaining:
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The Warriors took a 27-25 lead into the second frame as Curry led all scorers with 11 points, going 3-for-7 at the rim, 1-for-2 from downtown, and Green tallied 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Bosh led the Heat with 8 points.
2nd Quarter – Heat Hang On As Pace Slows
The first half of the second period was basically an Amare Stoudemire versus Barnes scoring contest, as Stoudemire hit three buckets in a row for the Heat, including a dunk from a feed from Dragic, while Barnes countered with two more jumpers and free throws.
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Curry and Green checked back in with 7:16 remaining till halftime and, after Curry found Bogut for an easy basket at the rim, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra called timeout, and the Warriors held a 40-32 lead with 6:48 to go.
Gerald Green and Johnson mini-sparked Miami, inching the Heat back as Klay missed a bunny in the lane and Draymond a three, then Wade attacked and, in stride, bounced a perfect pass to Bosh for the lefty layup, plus a foul by Bogut.
That brought the Heat to within one point, 42-41, with 5:07 left, then after Curry missed a jumper, Bosh got another “and-one” on Bogut, his third personal foul, and the Heat had the lead all of a sudden, 43-42, with 4:34 to play.
Walton took out Brandon Rush and Bogut and went small again with Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Barnes, and Green, but Justise Winslow got a dunk and Dragic made a clutch triple, the Heat’s second compared to only one (!) by the Warriors, and Wade made a driving, falling shot over Klay to go up, 54-49, with 1:36.
But Curry answered back with a triple from the left wing, delivered by Iguodala from the deep right side, Thompson stole the ball from Bosh, leading to Barnes free throws as he beasted for an offensive rebound of a missed Steph scoop, and Curry added a take to the lane fouled by Gerald Green.
Despite Spoelstra taking a timeout to setup the last play with 11.2 seconds to go, Curry made a good close-out on Wade as he took and missed a jumper at the buzzer.
Golden State took a 56-54 lead into halftime as Curry led all scorers with 18 points on 6-for-14 field, 2-for-4 downtown, but Klay struggled, going 2-for-6, missing just one trey attempt, while Draymond tallied 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists.
Bosh and Wade combined for 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @curryinthecorner)
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