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The Miami Heat outlasted the Golden State Warriors 116-109 on Tuesday in South Beach, sending the defending champions to a third straight loss. Golden State remains winless away from home over two weeks into regular season as a result, careless turnovers and occasionally poor shot selection wasting an effort that surely would've been good enough to beat the Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons.
Golden State is now 3-5 instead, entering the toughest test of its five-game road trip on Thursday with a back-to-back against the Orlando Magic and surging New Orleans Pelicans. The Warriors, obviously, will be plenty motivated to end their stunning early-season losing streak.
But don't be surprised if they come out with even more extra fire considering the controversial way Tuesday's contest end.
Golden State trailed 112-109 when Jimmy Butler was whistled for fouling Stephen Curry while the reigning Finals MVP launched a triple. Erik Spoelstra challenged the call despite visible contact on the play, a shrewd decision that paid off in a major way when crew chief Billy Kennedy announced the foul was being overturned because Butler first made contract with the ball before giving Curry a “high-five.”
Coach's Challenge (MIA): foul assessed to Butler in Q4 of #GSWatMIA. Ruling: Successful challenge, call overturned due to clear + conclusive evidence of no foul (Butler made contact w/ ball + then made incidental "high five" contact w/ Curry), MIA ball due to imminent possession. pic.twitter.com/43p4V0Pmf5
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) November 2, 2022
The Warriors had two other chances to tie the game after the challenge was deemed successful.
Klay Thompson missed a clean, game-tying look from three off a beautiful after-timeout design from Kerr with just over a minute left, then clanked another triple on the following possession with his team still down three. Butler hit a tough, isolation leaner over Thompson with 9.5 seconds remaining on the Heat's next trip, sealing the win.
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Steve Kerr told reporters after the game he expected the foul on Butler to be overturned, saying that usually “anything goes” when a defender hits the ball before the hand in that situation. Curry, needless to say, didn't see the nuance in a game-changing call he described as “awful.”
“It's an awful call. What you think I was about to say? I was walking to the free throw line thinking I was gonna get three free throws and have an even score with a minute and some change left,” he said. “It's tough when I clearly felt a lot of contact. I don't know what they saw besides the high-five contact they talked about, but you gotta be allowed to finish your motion—that's what I felt like. Especially when you slow it down in slow motion, there's a lot of contact.
“But what do I know about calls?”
Steph believes it was an "awful call" to overturn the foul on his 3-pointer pic.twitter.com/xzvmWZvJrz
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 2, 2022
Curry's final quip wasn't exactly thinly veiled. Still, there's a case to be made he really should brush up on league rules about “high fives” after the shooter releases the ball. The NBA's Video Rulebook makes clear Butler's contact with Curry isn't a foul.
Just like the sudden rash of palming calls against Jordan Poole, though, that hardly means it will continue to be enforced like it was on Tuesday over the season's remainder.
