The Warriors made several key defensive stops down the stretch to hold off the Heat in Monday’s 115-108 victory at Chase Center.
Despite some tough play from the Heat, the Warriors answered every Miami run and held the lead for nearly the entire game. But after Miami trimmed what was a 10-point fourth quarter lead down to four, the Warriors stepped up their defense and held the Heat scoreless over a three-and-a-half minute stretch late in the fourth quarter.
TEAM LEADERS
Draymond Green made the final stop of that stretch with an impressive block at the rim, and Jordan Poole put the exclamation point on the game-clinching 7-0 Warriors spurt with a slam on the other end of the court.
Poole paced the Dubs with 32 points in 26 minutes off the bench and Andrew Wiggins came through with 22 points, while Draymond Green tallied 13 assists as the Warriors improved to an NBA-best 29-7.
DRAYMOND DISHIN’
The Warriors had 39 assists for the second-straight game, and at the center of the Dubs’ dime party was Draymond Green. Playing in his first game since Christmas Day due to the NBA's health and safety protocols, the three-time All-Star had six of the team’s 12 assists in the first quarter, and he didn’t slow down from there. Green's 13 helpers were one short of his season-high, and in addition to guiding the Dubs’ offense, he made his mark defensively with his fourth straight game with multiple blocks.
POOLE STEPS UP
With Stephen Curry having an off-night (3-for-17 FGs, 1-for-10 3FGs), Jordan Poole came off the bench and immediately made his presence felt. He made three 3-pointers in the first quarter and had five in the game. Poole shot 12-for-17 from the floor, marking the first time a Warriors reserve scored over 30 points since Ian Clark had 36 points in a loss to the Spurs on March 11, 2017. In addition, he became the first player in the NBA this season to score at least 30 points in fewer than 27 minutes.
WIGGINS’ QUICK START
Andrew Wiggins had the hot hand early, making two quick 3-pointers and scoring the first eight points of the game for the Warriors. Wiggins would make six of his first eight shots before finishing with 22 points, his fourth straight game with at least 20 points.
PERSISTENT HEAT
The Heat entered the game with several key players injured or out as a result of the league’s health and safety protocols. And it didn’t get any better for Miami when star wing Jimmy Butler left the game in the third quarter with an injury to his right ankle. Butler had 22 points to pace the Heat, who also got 19 points from Caleb Martin, 18 from Tyler Herro and 16 from veteran guard Kyle Lowry to go along with his 11 assists.
KLAY’S RETURN GETTING CLOSER
Klay Thompson’s return to game action is drawing near, and Monday night marked the first time this season that he warmed up with fans in attendance. The Warriors’ organization has said that Thompson’s first game back will come at home, and assuming that holds true, Sunday’s game vs. Cleveland is the next potential game Thompson can play. A five-time NBA All-Star and three-time champ, Thompson hasn’t played since Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals.
UP NEXT
The Warriors will open a two-day, two-game road trip on Wednesday as they visit the Dallas Mavericks. This will be the first of this season's four matchups with the Mavs, and the Dubs will close out their quick trip in New Orleans on Thursday.
More Notables ...
- The Warriors retain the NBA’s best home (17-3) and overall record (29-7) with tonight’s win over the Heat... Golden State has won five of its last six home contests… The Warriors have yet to lose consecutive home games this season, the only team to accomplish the feat.
- Golden State has won seven of its last eight home matchups with Miami… The teams face off for the final time on March 23 in Miami.
- The Warriors dished out a season-high 39 assists in back-to-back games (tonight and 1/1 at UTA)… Their 78 combined assists in the last two games are the most by any team in a two-game stretch this season… The last time a team dished out 39-plus assists in back-to-back games was Indiana on 4/13/94 (39 at PHI) and 4/15/94 (40 at MIN)… The Warriors rank second in the league in assists per game (28.4), trailing only the Spurs (28.5).
- Golden State has its best record after 36 games since 2016-17 when they started 31-5.
- The Warriors used their eighth different starting lineup in the last nine games.
- Dating back to last season, the Warriors have now won 44 of their last 56 regular season games (44-12).
- Stephen Curry made a 3-point basket in his 159th consecutive game, extending his NBA-record streak… He recorded his sixth 10-assist game of the season (he has recorded nine-plus assists in the last two games)… Curry tallied a season-low nine points (prev. 12, twice)… The last time Curry scored less than 10 points was on 10/30/19 vs. PHX when he scored nine.
- Ten of Draymond Green's 13 assists came in the game’s first half, his eighth career 10-assist half… Green has dished out eight-or-more assists in five-straight games.
- Gary Payton II scored in double figures for the seventh-straight game, extending a career-best streak (averaging 14.0 points per game in that span)… He has 12 such games this season… He made his sixth appearance in the starting lineup (second consecutively)… Payton II recorded a season-high-tying four steals.
- Jordan Poole posted 32 points, one shy of his season high of 33 (11/21 vs. TOR)… Tonight marked his fourth outing on the season of 30-plus points (he had one 30-point game prior to this season).
- Andrew Wiggins tallied his fourth consecutive 20-point game and 12th such game of the season… Wiggins shot 50.0% from three (2-of-4) and is making a career-high 43.5% of his shots from behind the arc (prev. 38.0% last season).
- Nemanja Bjelica scored in double figures for the ninth time this season (10 tonight).
- Otto Porter Jr. tallied 10-or-more points for the 13th time this season (10 tonight)… Porter has scored in double figures in three of the last four games.