The Miami Heat lost to the Golden State Warriors 118-120, in a game where we saw Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow, and Dion Waiters face off against Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson.
While this loss for the Miami Heat felt like a morale win, it still adds another number to the Heat’s loss column, currently sitting at the 9th seed with a record of 25-29. The Heat are now 1-5 in their past six games, and even though that seems like a potential downtrend as they try and fight for the playoffs, this game vs. the Golden State Warriors would prove you wrong.
We weren’t kidding in our introduction, from Josh Richardson’s career high of 37 points to Justise Winslow and Dion Waiters totaling 46 points, Miami’s surprising trio, who they desperately needed on offense, came to play in Oakland on Sunday night. The newfound offensive threats for the Heat totaled for 83 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds, and 3 steals, shooting 18-33 from the 3-point line.
This trio may be the immediate future for the Heat’s offense, at least, before Goran Dragic comes back from injury.
However, even with the Heat’s trio play amazing on the offensive end, it wasn’t a match for Golden State’s 3 All-Stars, as the trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant gave the Heat a run for their money, as the trio totaled for 93 points, 8 assists, 13 rebounds, and 2 steals, shooting 12-30 from the 3-point line. While at face value you could probably argue for why the Heat’s trio was more impressive, it was another All-Star for the Warriors that tipped the scale in Draymond Green, as he finished the game with 14 assists and 7 rebounds, making the Warriors close-to-impossible to defeat (wait until DeMarcus Cousins is back to 100 percent).
A few other players that made a significant impact in this game were Dwyane Wade and Hassan Whiteside, Wade finished with 10 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds. Whiteside totaled 13 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 assists, all in 21 minutes.
While Wade – at times – tends to be a nuisance at the end of games this season, handling the ball when the facilitator should be Winslow, he played great at the end of this one, showing up Durant on a blocked mid-range shot leading to a transition dunk/lay-in with a minute remaining in the game. Moreover, Whiteside also showed in this game that he maybe deserves more minutes, however, Bam Adebayo’s athleticism is what grabs him the majority of the minutes at the end of games, as it’s easier for him to get more favorable buckets (like alley-oops).
Ultimately, this game could be summed up as a “hopeful” loss, that gives Heat nation a bit more push to emotionally stay with the current squad until the end of the season. The major positive in this one was the performance was Richardson, who showed that he’s tired of waiting for his bloom as a potential All-Star, performing in a game under the brightest lights this season for the Heat.
The Heat play the Denver Nuggets tonight in an away game at 9:00 PM Eastern, in an oddly must-win game as the Detroit Pistons are trying to steal the 8th seed to make the playoffs for the first time in years.