On February 17th, the Miami Heat played against the Golden State Warriors. 


In the first quarter, the Heat dominated over the Warriors, and you could see that they were playing not just a good defense but a good offense. 


The first half ended with the Heat 61 and the Warriors 46. With a 15 point lead, the Heat needed to keep making smarter plays and driving to the basket. They also needed to continue maintaining their defense. 


Coming into the 3rd quarter Oubre and Bazemore scored back-to-back for the Warriors. Herro then drives the ball to the basket but misses. However, Achiuwa was there to complete the basket. Herro then draws the foul as he goes to shoot the basket and goes to the line for 3 point foul shots. He makes 3 for 3. Curry then attempts a three, and he misses. Nunn, to Achiuwa for the basket. Curry misses another attempt again. 


As we entered the 4th quarter and having the game that Curry and the Warriors were having, you would question how the Warriors were able to shorten the lead the Heat had on them to a single-digit number. 


With 4:59 left, the Warriors were down by 7, the Heat up by 99. Butler gets fouled, but the Warriors coach decided to challenge the call, and after deliberation, the decision was overturned, and they had to play a jump ball. Wiggins gains the possession for the Warriors. Curry continued to have a bad game, 3/20 from the field, as the clock continued to wind down. 


Butler for 2, bringing the score to 101 to 96 at 3 minutes left in the game. 


Bam was driving the ball to the paint for the 2. 


Curry for the 3, with 2:20 left in the game, bridging the gap to a 2 pt difference. 


The last two minutes in the regular game were nail-biting. Out of nowhere, Curry started dropping 3’s giving them the advantage in the game. In the previous 20 seconds of the 4th quarter, Coach Spoelstra should have called a timeout to advance the ball closer to their end of the court. Instead, he let the clock run, and the Heat was unable to make a fair play. The game ended 105 to 105 before going into Overtime. 


With an additional 5 points, the Heat really needed to make smarter plays, avoid the threes, avoid the fouls and just drive the ball to the basket. For the first two and a half minutes of the OT, no shots were made, and then both teams were making back-to-back shots. It was like they were feeding off of each other until they weren't. The Heat let their guard down, not only in the 4th quarter but in OT. Curry comes in and makes a 3 with a minute left in the game. The Heat, unable to begin the play, get called on a 5-second violation for holding the ball, causing Heat turnover. Curry then gets fouled and makes 2 for 2. The game ended with the Warriors coming back from a 15 point deficit to winning 120 to 112 the Miami Heat. 


This was disappointing. A game that they should have easily won was turned around by a team that was missing their prime centers and guards. The Heat's cockiness in the end and lack of drive led to their defeat. After a great start, they slowly declined in the 4th quarter as they could not complete their shots. 


Let’s continue to see how they fare in the next few games.