NBA-Best Warriors Set To Host Struggling Heat
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OAKLAND (CBSMiami/SportsDirect) – The Miami Heat are going to have their hands full on Monday night.
The Heat just put on one of their worst defensive displays of the season in a loss to the Utah Jazz and will have to get things fixed on that end quickly when they visit the high-scoring Golden State Warriors.
Miami allowed the Utah Jazz to shoot 54.9 percent from the field in a 98-83 loss on Saturday and struggled to defend the perimeter, where the Warriors thrive.
The Heat rank among the league leaders in scoring defense (94.8 points) but are hitting a slump on that end as they get ready to finish out the six-game road trip against the likes of Golden State (a league-leading 114.5 scoring average), Oklahoma City (108.9) and the Los Angeles Clippers (103.6), who all sit in the top four in the Western Conference.
The Warriors have not lost a home game since Jan. 27, 2015, and pushed their latest overall winning streak to six straight with a 128-116 triumph at Sacramento on Friday.
That marked the 12th time this season that Golden State put up at least 120 points, including each of the last two games.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN Sun (Miami), CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE HEAT (22-15): The defensive issues on Saturday could have been injury-related, with Dwyane Wade (shoulder), Tyler Johnson (shoulder) and Hassan Whiteside (knee) all playing through some discomfort or missing the game entirely.
Wade left the contest midway through the third quarter on Saturday before returning and ended up 3-of-17 from the floor in 33 minutes.
Johnson sat out due to a recurring injury and joined Josh McRoberts (knee), who has missed the last 17 games.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (35-2): Stephen Curry has been battling through a painful shin contusion and saw his scoring numbers take a dip before breaking out with 38 points and 11 assists on Saturday.
The reigning MVP sat out the final two games in December due to the leg injury and was limited to 14 minutes against Denver on Jan. 2, but has since adjusted to playing with padding around the shin and was up to 38 minutes against Sacramento.
Curry went 8-of-14 from 3-point range in the win and has buried at least four from beyond the arc in each of the last four games.
BUZZER BEATERS
- The Warriors own the best start in NBA history through 37 games and are the fifth team in history to record at least 35 straight home wins.
- Heat F Luol Deng scored in double figures once in six games this month (10 points at Phoenix on Friday).
- Curry averaged 36 points in a pair of wins over Miami last season.
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