Curry gets help as Warriors rallied to defeat Heat in OT
As the final seconds ticked away in the Warriors’ 120-112 overtime win against the Miami Heat, Stephen Curry and Kent Bazemore hunched over and took a well-deserved breath.
After trailing by as many as 19 points in the first half, the Warriors outscored the Heat 21-9 in the final 8:40 of regulation, including Bazemore’s game-tying layup with 52 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime, where Curry’s 3-pointers clinched the win.
It was Curry (25 points, 11 assists) and Bazemore (26 points, eight rebounds) who led the comeback — an especially gritty one considering that, minutes before tipoff, Draymond Green was ruled out with right ankle soreness. Already without James Wiseman (left wrist sprain) and Kevon Looney (left ankle sprain), that forced Golden State to go even smaller.
Here are two takeaways from the game.
DRAYMOND GREEN WAS A LATE SCRATCH » There was no shootaround Wednesday morning, so when Green arrived at Chase Center hours before tipoff with a sore right ankle, it was the first the Warriors coaching and training staff had been made aware of it. Green warmed up with the intention of playing, but head coach Steve Kerr pulled him aside and told him, “Don’t be a hero.”
Ultimately, Green obliged and he was pulled from the game as a precaution. Kerr said he expects Green to play Friday when the Warriors play the Orlando Magic in the first of a fourgame trip.
The Warriors started guard Mychal Mulder in place of Green, who had started the last seven games at center in place of injured big men James Wiseman (left wrist sprain) and Kevon Looney (left ankle sprain). Kerr mixed and matched lineups all night, eventually settling on Curry, Kelly Oubre Jr. (23 points, eight rebounds), Andrew Wiggins (23 points, eight rebounds), Bazemore and Eric Paschall (11 points, seven rebounds, three assists) to close the game in overtime.
“We played good defensively together and moved the ball, took advantage of mismatches,” Paschall said of the closing group. “I think it was a good building block.”
CURRY GETS HELP » Curry felt Green’s absence more than anyone. Without his longtime teammate to help run the offense, Curry was forced into difficult shots and, though he finished with 25 points, it took 8-for25 from the field (5-for-20 from 3-point range). On a night when Curry’s streak of 10 straight games shooting at least 50% from the field came to an end, he got some much-needed contributions from his supporting cast: Oubre went 4-for-7 from 3-point range; Wiggins went 4-for-9 from the same distance; and Bazemore made timely rebounds, deflections and a game-tying layup.
“They were giving a lot of attention to Steph,” added Bazemore. “It is just being opportunistic, staying within yourself, not trying to do too much. You stick to what the game gives you.”
Kerr called Bazemore “the difference in the game.”
“He has his moments where he makes plays where he gets out of control but also makes really athletic, powerful moves to the rim, with steals, and fast-break layups and dunks,” he said. “He’s the kind of player that makes an impact.”