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Warriors 104, Heat 89
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors equaled their 25-year-old franchise record with a 15th consecutive home win Wednesday night, thumping the Miami Heat 104-89.
Point guard Stephen Curry had a game-high 32 points, and the Warriors’ reserves outscored their Heat counterparts 41-17 as Golden State ran its record to 12-0 against Eastern Conference competition this season.
Curry and backcourt mate Klay Thompson combined for four 3-pointers and 19 points in the first quarter, during which the Warriors built a 26-18 lead. The home team never looked back.
Golden State (31-5) led by as many as 19 in the second quarter and only momentarily saw the advantage shrink to single digits in the second half while coasting to its eighth straight win.
The Heat (17-22) was playing the second half of a back-to-back without star guard Dwyane Wade, who sustained a hamstring injury Tuesday in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Power forward Chris Bosh led the Heat with 26 points.
Curry, who bombed in eight 3-pointers and totaled 40 points when the Warriors won 114-97 at Miami on Nov. 25, connected on seven of his 10 3-point attempts in the rematch as Golden State outscored the Heat 39-18 from beyond the arc and 17-4 on fast-break points.
Thompson finished with three 3-pointers and 19 points. Guard Leandro Barbosa and swingman Andre Iguodala each scored nine points, the top totals among five Warriors reserves who scored at least seven points.
The Warriors shot 46.9 percent from the field and became the first Heat opponent in the last five games to score at least 100 points.
Small forward Luol Deng backed Bosh with 19 points. Center Hassan Whiteside, making his first start in just his 15th game for the Heat, recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Miami rookie point guard Shabazz Napier, also making his first start, had 10 points and six assists.
The Heat saw their two-game winning streak end while falling to 2-2 on a five-game trip that ends Friday night in Sacramento. Miami won eight of its previous 10 games in Oakland.
NOTES: Addressing the media before the game, Heat coach Eric Spoelstra labeled SG Dwyane Wade’s status day-to-day and would not rule him out of Miami’s trip finale Friday at Sacramento. … Wade missed seven games in November with a hamstring injury. … Heat SG Tyler Johnson, signed to a 10-day contract Tuesday, suited up for the first time Wednesday. He scored two points in two minutes. Johnson, a San Francisco Bay Area native, attended a Warriors Basketball Camp as a youth. … Asked before the game if he was concerned about playing a back-to-back, Warriors coach Steve Kerr noted that nobody played more than 29 minutes in Tuesday’s 116-105 win at Utah, adding, “That was probably the best part of the game.” … The Warriors recorded their 100th consecutive sellout at Oracle Arena. Only six NBA teams currently have longer sellout streaks.
