SAN FRANCISCO — There was reason for Steph Curry to step foot on the floor in the fourth quarter, so Tuesday night was an improvement from a game ago. But it’s safe to say a 114-98 loss to the reeling Miami Heat wasn’t the way they wanted to finish a six-game homestand.
For the second game in a row, the Warriors fell behind early against an opponent playing under less than ideal circumstances. And while they nearly erased this double-digit first-half deficit, their poor perimeter defense and Miami’s teamwide hot hand kept them from finishing off the comeback.
Steph Curry finished with 31 points and drained a technical free throw that cut the Heat’s lead to 1, 87-86, early in the fourth quarter. But the Heat immediately answered with a trio of tres of their own — none closely contested — and pulled away for good.
Miami shot 47.3% overall but drained 40%of its attempts from 3 and had eight players connect at least once from behind the arc. On their way to 61-48 halftime advantage, they had converted eight of their first 14 attempts from distance before finishing the half 8-of-18.
Besides Curry, it was another struggle for the Warriors to generate offense.
Trayce Jackson-Davis cleaned up enough of their misses to finish second to Curry and one shy of a career-high with 19 points (9-12 FG) — while Kevon Looney recorded a DNP — but Golden State shot 40.8% as a team, including 28% from beyond the arc.
With Miami coming off a double-overtime loss the previous night, the Warriors were able to get out to an early 14-8 advantage. But they trailed 29-23 by the end of the first quarter and never regained the lead following an end-to-end loss to the Kings on Sunday.
For the second night in a row, Curry poured in 20 first-half points but looked up at a double-digit deficit on the scoreboard as he retreated to the locker room. He dribbled himself free and drained his sixth 3 of the half to cut the deficit to 11, prancing back on defense, only for Haywood Highsmith to sneak behind his back for a putback bucket at the buzzer that negated his effort on the previous possession.
He started the fourth quarter and drained the first bucket of the period, another 3 that cut the deficit to 3. But the Warriors allowed Alec Burks to answer with a wide-open 3 on the next possession. It was the same story after Curry pulled them within 1. Nikola Jovic immediately sank one as Curry closed out late, then repeated it on the next possessio, and Burks made it three in a row to extend the lead back to 10.
Curry checked out for good at the 6:16 mark, trailing 102-92.
Golden State hits the road for a four-game swing against the Pistons (18-18), Pacers (19-18), Raptors (8-28) and Timberwolves (19-17) starting Thursday in Detroit.