After the Miami Heat had an exceptional showing last Sunday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, they drop the very next game against the Golden State Warriors, 113-92. This was a matchup with two teams that are vying to get a run going in the game, but also in terms of racking up wins as time is running out of the regular season.
The Heat were led by Bam Adebayo who had 24 points, nine rebounds, and five assists as Terry Rozier and Haywood Highsmith each had 15 points. For the Warriors, it was Klay Thompson who led the team with 28 points along with others like Stephen Curry, Jonathan Kuminga, and Andrew Wiggins contributing to their victory.
Miami shot 40.2 percent from the field and made only eight shots out of their 33 attempts from beyond the arch in another frustrating night in the shooting department. Here are three takeaways from the Heat's painstaking loss to the Warriors Tuesday night inside the Kaseya Center:
Tight first half with another strong Haywood Highsmith showing
As expected, both teams played in the first half like it means something as the two squads are trying to solidify position in the post-season. However, the concerns about the Heat getting blown out were put to rest at the time though they were valid thoughts since the Heat were not only continuing to miss key players like Tyler Herro, Kevin Love, and Duncan Robinson, but were also missing their featured star in Jimmy Butler due to an illness.
Just like in Miami's last win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Haywood Highsmith is once again a standout on both ends of the floor, showcasing how underrated of a two-way player he really is. On the offensive side in the first 24 minutes, Highsmith was exceptional as he made all of his five attempts from the field with three of them being from the field.
4/4 last game, 2/2 so far tonight
Haywood's putting together a nice lil streak behind the arc đź‘Ś pic.twitter.com/zTDtlEzkbF
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) March 27, 2024
As expected, Adebayo was also playing up to his standards as he ended the first half with 13 points, six rebounds, and four assists. However, it did feel like Golden State was not at their full capacity in terms of their performance as Curry only had seven points, though it was Thompson who would lead the team with 15 points. With Miami leading by just two at halftime, they are on the way to another clutch-game situation.
Second half was a slog for Miami
While it was a close game throughout the first half, the Heat's play fell off in the third quarter as they allowed the Warriors to score 32 points while they only scored 20 points which was the least for the team up to that point. It was especially rough from three-point range as they only made one out of eight attempts where it was a Nikola Jovic make with under two minutes left in the period.
It was the trend that Heat players and head coach Erik Spoelstra have been trying to erase which is that when the shots don't fall, the defense suffers with it. Entering the fourth quarter, the Heat were down 10 points as players like Thompson, Wiggins, and Kuminga found success, even with Curry still relatively quiet.
The frustrations continued in the final period as the Heat couldn't get any offense going to truly make the game interesting and competitive. If there was one aspect that Golden State did effectively well and has been doing for many years is adapting on the defensive side, which has been an underrated point due to their game-altering offense during the peak years of their dynasty.
While it helps that the Heat were missing top players on both sides of the ball, the Warriors didn't overlook Miami, leading to a crucial win for them.
Crucial to close out home stand strong after Warriors loss
Now suffering a loss to the Warriors, it is absolutely integral that the Heat come into next Friday's game against the Portland Trail Blazers absolutely locked in. However, the concerns about Miami's play at home is still worrying as they are now 18-17 inside the Kaseya Center, which is middling compared to previous seasons where it was an immense strength.
With 10 games left in the season, the clock keeps ticking until the end of the regular season which means less time for Miami to solidify position within the Eastern Conference as they entered the game seventh place. With how tightly packed it is, if the Heat want to get out of contention for the play-in tournament, the winning needs to start as soon as possible.
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