Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Warriors present ultimate challenge
Heat haven’t won against Golden State since 2014
MIAMI — The last thing Heat coach Erik Spoelstra wanted was to provide any added motivation for the next opponent on the schedule.
After practice Sunday, Spoelstra was asked about his team’s tendency to play the Golden State Warriors better than the rest of the league. No way was Spoelstra taking the bait.
“I appreciate you saying that, but I’m not going to say anything,” Spoelstra said, joking. “They’re so good, they are looking for any glimmer of disrespect, anything really, just to motivate them.”
The Heat have lost five straight to the Warriors, who at 38-6 have the best record in the NBA. Miami hasn’t won a game in the series since LeBron James hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer in a 111-110 victory at Oracle Arena in 2014. Since, both franchises have headed in different directions.
The Warriors are attempting to advance to the NBA Finals for a third straight season while the Heat are in danger of missing the postseason for second time in three years.
“Everybody is talking about them shooting a lot of 3s,” Heat guard Goran Dragic said. “But they get like 45-50 points in the paint. Of course, our defense needs to get back, and we need to eliminate those easy ones in transition.”
Even with the drop-off, Miami has managed to be competitive against the Warriors in recent years. When the teams met earlier this month, the Heat trailed 85-82 with 6 minutes, 26 seconds remaining before falter-
ing late.
“You can’t compare year to year,” Spoelstra said. “Now we have a similar model in terms of type of player we’re looking for to them. Not necessarily all across the board, but we really like or gravitate that guys who absolutely hate to lose. I think they’re very similar in that regard. But in terms of success against them, at the end of the day we haven’t beat them either.”
The Heat will have their best chance if guard Dion Waiters can continue his strong play of late. He is coming off scoring a gamehigh 33 points on 12 of 19 shooting in Saturday’s victory against the Milwaukee Bucks. Before that, he had been 34 percent from the field in January.
Part of the reason for the Heat’s three-game winning streak has been Waiters’ ability to get to the rim more often. Their offense is more dynamic when he and Dragic are attacking the basket.
“It opens everything up when you’re getting to the basket,” Waiters said. “The defense collapses. You’ve got the open space. Find the open guy. That makes the game easy. I like to play inside out.”
Added Spoelstra, “He and Goran are super unique in their ability to attack off the dribble and put a tremendous amount of pressure on the defense. I think Dion is at his best when he’s attacking, not settling. But when also he’s looking to get off the ball and make simple plays for his teammates.”
For Waiters, the matchup is also personal. He was teammates with Warriors forward Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City. The two have remained close friends and even planned to watch the NFL conference championships together once Durant arrived in South Florida Sunday.
“I learned a lot from him,” Waiters said. “We worked out every day before and after practice. We hung out a lot off the court. That’s just somebody who I learned a lot from … I just know he’s a guy who always is going to be in my corner. It’s always good to have a person like that.”