Heat now face Curry, Warriors

OAKLAND, Calif. — For all the wealth of riches the Golden State Warriors have collected over the years, the one constant against the Miami Heat has been the player who started the Bay Area’s NBA revival.

It is why, even with the Warriors bolstered by the offseason addition of Kevin Durant, figure all Heat eyes to once again be on No. 30 when the teams meet tonight at Oracle Arena.

Stephen Curry not only has led Golden State in scoring in each of the teams’ last six meetings, but he has scored at least 29 points in each of those games, including 40 or more twice.

For the Heat, by contrast, tonight will offer yet another sign about how the only constant to this season has been change. In each of the Heat’s past 10 games against Golden State, either Dwyane Wade, LeBron James or Chris Bosh has led them in scoring. Now, all three of the Big Three are gone.

Into that reality comes a game against a team built for nothing short of perfection, one whose last home loss in regulation was on opening night.

“Everybody knows that Golden State is an elite basketball team, playing at an extremely high level,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after Monday’s practice at the University of San Francisco. “That’s why I don’t want our guys overwhelming themselves about that. It’s about us and what we’re doing.”

At 32-6, the compilation of Curry, Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala has the Warriors again

rolling through the league. The Warriors are in the midst of the longest streak without consecutive regular-season losses in NBA history, at 124 games and counting. That includes last season becoming the first team in NBA history to play an entire season without suffering back-to-back losses.

And, yet, each slip-up draws the type of inspection the Heat endured during their Big Three run to four consecutive NBA Finals and championships in 2012 and ‘13.

So after the Warriors blew a 24-point lead in their most recent home game, falling Friday to the Memphis Grizzlies, the questions began again. Including from within.

“I don’t feel like right now we’re getting better at the rate we need to get better at in order to win a championship,” Green said.

The Warriors then fell to a nine-point deficit Sunday against the Sacramento Kings before pulling safely ahead.

Such questions about momentary lapses versus seeing the big picture rekindle memories for forward Udonis Haslem, the last remaining member from the Heat’s Big Three era.

“Expectations should be set high in the locker room,” Haslem said of comments such as those offered by Green.

But Haslem said what has to be tuned out is, “everybody on the outside.”

It was after the failure with James, Wade and Bosh in the 2011 NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks that the outside noise grew loudest for the Heat. Now there are questions about the Warriors being able to reclaim the title they won in 2015 and lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals.

“At first, I think it bothered us,” Haslem of the nonstop inspection. “But they’ve experienced enough. They’ve been through it enough. They’ve been the team to beat, the team to watch, for the last couple of years, so I think they understand what the focus is.”

Of comparisons between these Warriors and his Big Three Heat, Spoelstra said: “It’s a team with a great deal of talent, a team that has a defined culture. They’re very well coached. Players come there knowing that they’re going to have to sacrifice.”

One issue the Warriors haven’t had to deal with has been injuries. The Heat, by contrast, will arrive to Oracle Arena without Justise Winslow, Josh McRoberts and likely with Josh Richardson unable to play.

Five games into what already has been a frustrating six-game trip, the season’s ultimate challenge appears to be at hand.

“Look, our guys love competition,” Spoelstra said. “So they’re going to love the challenge of playing against a great team, a team that can really put points on the board in a hurry.”

For Heat guard Tyler Johnson, who played scholastically nearby at Saint Francis in Mountain View and attended the Warriors’ youth basketball camp on a scholarship provided by the team, the challenge is undeniable.

“I know they’ve got their whole team, they’ve got pretty much everybody back and then added the best player in the world.”

RICH PEDRONCELLI/AP Kevin Durant, left, was added to the Golden State Warriors postseason and Stephen Curry has led the team in scoring in its last six meetings.