Stephen Curry scored 22 of his game-high 29 points in a second-half surge, Golden State’s defense limited Giannis Antetokounmpo to 20 points and the Warriors won their sixth straight game Thursday night, defeating the Miami Heat 120-100 in San Francisco.
Draymond Green, the driving force behind the defensive effort against Antetokounmpo, chipped in a game-high 11 assists, while Yaxel Lendeborg recorded 17 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Warriors, who have not lost since an 0-3 start.
Davion Mitchell had a team-high 22 points and Bam Adebayo added 18 for the Heat, who were playing the second night of a back-to-back after needing overtime to earn a 117-116 road victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.
Seeking their fourth win in five games after an 0-4 start, Miami showed no signs of fatigue over the game’s first 26 minutes. The Heat trailed briefly late in the first half before taking a 61-58 lead on a Klay Thompson jumper 2:06 into the third quarter.
The Warriors dominated from there, beginning with an 18-3 run that featured 11 points from Curry, including two 3-pointers and three free throws after he was fouled on a 25-foot attempt.
Miami never got closer than 10 points after that.
Curry’s 22 second-half points came on 7-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range. He had gone 2-of-10 overall and 1-of-5 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Georges Niang added 13 points for Golden State, while Will Richard and Brandon Williams scored 10 apiece. Niang and Williams contributed to a 53-point effort by the Warriors’ bench, with Gary Payton II scoring nine points and Al Horford and Charles Bassey adding eight apiece.
Bassey also grabbed seven rebounds and blocked three shots in just 14 minutes.
Antetokounmpo had 16 points and 10 rebounds in the first half, making six of his nine shots. However, he was held to four points after halftime, making just one of his four field-goal attempts.
Antetokounmpo finished with a game-high 14 rebounds. Adebayo also recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Thompson, the hero of Wednesday’s win with a last-second 3-pointer, added 11 points for Miami but shot just 3-of-10 overall and 2-of-7 from 3-point range.
Mitchell, who connected on four 3-pointers, also had a team-high eight assists, while Pelle Larsson and Ryan Conwell chipped in 13 points apiece.
–Field Level Media
