After the first quarter, it looked like the Miami Heat were on their way to a victory over the league-leading Golden State Warriors.
The Heat dominated the defending champions in the first quarter and led 30-21 at the end of the period. But then the Warriors showed why they’re the best team in the NBA.
The Warriors slowly clawed back and entered halftime trailing by just four points. Until the very end of the game, Golden State’s largest lead was only four points due to the fact that the Heat actually led for the majority of the night.
In spite of this, Klay Thompson scored 15 straight points for the Warriors midway through the fourth quarter. Not to be outdone by his teammate, Stephen Curry knocked down a couple of huge treys late in the fourth to close the game for Golden State.
The Heat may have lost the game, but there is no shame in losing to a 51-5 team. Wednesday night showed that Miami is taking steps in the right direction and the team’s performance displayed why they could advance deep in the postseason this year.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s 118-112 loss to the Warriors:
1. Josh Richardson Will Be a Key Player to Watch for the Rest of the Season
Josh Richardson is a second-round draft pick that has played sparsely up until this past month.
To Richardson’s advantage, the Heat have lost both Tyler Johnson and Beno Udrih to season-ending injuries over the past several weeks. With the Heat shorthanded in terms of depth, they’ve had no choice but to play Richardson huge minutes.
Wednesday night was another example of Richardson playing well in big minutes. The University of Tennessee product scored 15 points and played tenacious defense while appearing in 29 minutes of action. This is just five nights after the guard led the Heat with 36 minutes played in a 114-94 win over the Washington Wizards.
Over the past four games, Richardson has averaged 23.3 minutes per game, in comparison to his 12.6 minutes per game average for the season.
The Heat will make a push towards one of the Eastern Conference’s top three seeds over the last two months of the season and there is little doubt that Richardson will play a key role along the way.
Next: Dwyane Wade Is Still the Heat’s Go-to-Guy
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2. Dwyane Wade Is Still the Heat’s Go-to-Guy
As much chatter as there seems to be about Dwyane Wade being an “old” guy, the fact still remains that Wade is a top 20 player in the NBA.
The 34-year-old shooting guard is still the best player on the Heat, and he showed that he’s still the go-to-guy by scoring 32 points against the NBA’s best team.
Yes, Chris Bosh is sidelined, which has forced Wade to take on an even greater scoring load. But there are other options on the Heat that are more than capable of scoring points in bunches, such as Luol Deng and Goran Dragic.
While both Deng and Dragic played dominant during Wade’s recent two-game absence, the pecking order has been re-established and it’s clear that No. 3 remains the alpha male.
Most of the big shots that were taken late in the loss to the Warriors were attempted or assisted by Wade.
Don’t expect that to change as the Heat make a playoff push over the next several weeks.
Next: Heat Need to Be More Aggressive in Clutch Situations
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3. Heat Need to Be More Aggressive in Clutch Situations
The difference between great and good teams is their ability to close out games.
The Warriors are the best team in the NBA, while the Heat are arguably the fourth-best team in the Eastern Conference. Wednesday night was a perfect illustration of why this is the case.
Curry did not re-enter the fourth quarter until there were about five minutes remaining in the game. Despite both teams being within striking distance of one another for the duration of the quarter, Golden State managed just fine as Curry’s teammate, Thompson, carried the scoring load by scoring 15 consecutive points for the Warriors.
Wade received a similar type of rest, as he did not re-enter the game until Curry had re-entered the contest. While the Heat never trailed by more than four points during this stretch, they wasted numerous opportunities by looking hesitant and failing to move the ball around.
This was in stark contrast to how they played throughout the night, when they moved the ball with fluidity.
Both Deng and Dragic were on the court during this stretch and neither looked like he wanted to shoot the basketball. Considering Wade was not even on the court, it’s mind-boggling why this was even an issue.
Whereas Thompson carried the offense with Golden State’s best player on the bench, the Heat looked like a scared team afraid to make a mistake with two veterans leading the offense while Wade was on the bench.
Next: Even Justise Winslow Couldn’t Slow Down Klay Thompson
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4. Even Justise Winslow Couldn’t Slow Down Klay Thompson
Let’s not sugarcoat it, the Warriors’ top duo simply carried the offense.
While Curry’s 42 points will get the headlines, Thompson’s 33 points were every bit as important.
As expected, the Heat’s top wing defender, Justise Winslow, handled the assignment of guarding Thompson for most of the night. Needless to say, it wasn’t a good night for Winslow.
Like most players who guard either Curry or Thompson, it wasn’t really Winslow’s fault—it’s just that Thompson is simply that good.
The 26-year-old guard was 13-of-25 from the field and 4-for-8 from beyond the arc as he consistently knocked down shots over defenders’ outstretched arms.
The Heat have always had a strong defensive identity under the leadership of head coach Erik Spoelstra. However, they were no match for the No. 1 offense in the NBA.
The 118 points allowed by Miami was their second-highest points total allowed this season and if you allow that many points, you simply aren’t going to win many games.
Next: Heat Are Playing Their Best Basketball Right Now
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5. Heat Are Playing Their Best Basketball Right Now
Coming into Wednesday night’s tilt with the Warriors, the Heat were in the midst of a three-game win streak, with two of those three wins coming against teams involved in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
Again, any loss is tough, especially one that occurs after you enter the final quarter leading the game (the Heat led 83-80 at the end of three quarters). However, Miami is playing their best basketball of the season, despite the absences of Bosh, Johnson and Udrih.
The Heat are playing faster, scoring more points in the paint and taking less three-point shot attempts. The result? Miami is 9-4 in their last 13 games.
Despite the loss to Golden State, the Heat are currently fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 32-25 record, just a half-game back of the third-seeded Boston Celtics.
Assuming the Heat continue to play more fast-paced basketball as they’ve been doing in the month of February, there is no reason to believe that they can’t clinch the third seed in the East by season’s end.
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