Warriors beat Heat 120-100 for sixth straight win as Curry scores 29
Stephen Curry scored 29 after a slow start and Golden State pulled away in the third quarter to beat Miami and run its winning streak to six games.
The Golden State Warriors have now won six straight since their 0-3 start. They beat the Miami Heat 120-100 at Chase Center on Thursday night behind a second-half surge from Stephen Curry. The win lifts Golden State to 6-3, one game behind the 7-2 Lakers in the Pacific Division.
Curry had a rough first half. He missed seven of his first eight shots and was 2 of 10 at the break, according to the Associated Press recap carried by ESPN. He found his range in the third quarter and finished with 29 points on 9-of-19 shooting, including six 3-pointers. The Warriors won the third quarter 38-23, and a 26-9 run inside that period put the game away. Curry sat once the lead was safe, which left him just short of a fourth straight 30-point game. A first-quarter 3-pointer moved him past Oscar Robertson into 17th place on the NBA's career scoring list.
Yaxel Lendeborg added 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Draymond Green had a season-high 11 assists, and Georges Niang scored 13 off the bench. Golden State made 16 of 41 from deep (39%) against a Miami team that has made guarding the arc a priority. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called it "high on the priority list."
The night also carried some history. As Yahoo Sports noted, Klay Thompson got a warm ovation before tipoff in his return to San Francisco. He scored 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting, one night after his overtime winner against the Clippers. Andrew Wiggins, another former Warrior, had two points on 1-of-6 shooting. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 20 points and 14 rebounds, Davion Mitchell scored 22 and Bam Adebayo added 18 and 10 for Miami, which fell to 3-6. The team also honored the late Jason Collins on Pride Night, with his twin brother Jarron, a former Warriors assistant, in attendance.
What it means for Orlando on Saturday
The early-season picture has changed. Golden State opened with a 22-point loss in Los Angeles, a three-point home loss to Memphis and a nine-point loss in Phoenix. Since then the Warriors have beaten Denver by 20, Minnesota by five, the Lakers by 17, the Clippers by 12, Phoenix by three and now Miami by 20. That is a margin of about 13 points a game across the streak, and it has turned a 43-point deficit over the first three games into a plus-43 differential for the season. They have also already paid back two of the three teams that beat them, the Lakers and the Suns.
Next up is the Orlando Magic at Chase Center on Saturday night. Orlando is 2-6, has lost three straight and sits last in the Southeast Division. Golden State is 4-1 at home, and its only loss there was to Memphis. On paper, this is a good chance to stretch the streak to seven.
The question is whether the Warriors can avoid the slow starts that marked Thursday's first half. They trailed 29-26 after one quarter and led by just two at halftime before the third-quarter push. A short turnaround against a struggling team is where that habit can cost a game, and the defense that held Miami to 47 points after the break is the clearest sign that this run is more than Curry's shooting.
