Steve Kerr praises the Warriors ‘competitive fire’ in upset win over the Heat
Postgame Roundup: See what the Warriors had to say following their win against the Heat on Wednesday night.
The Golden State Warriors beat the Miami Heat on Wednesday night by a score of 118-104. Despite being down several key players on this second night of a back-to-back, the Warriors pulled off the upset against the number one team in the East. Here’s some of the highlights from the Warriors postgame pressers:
Steve Kerr Discusses the Game
Whenever the Warriors decide to rest their veterans, the young Dubs always rise to the occasion, and this game was no different. They played with high energy all night and were able to keep pace with one of the best teams in the league. Head coach Steve Kerr was urging his team to compete and be more physical, and he got exactly that from them on Wednesday.
Here’s Steve Kerr talking about the game:
Kerr noticed more competitive fire and better defense tonight. As far as losing to worst team in East then beating best team in East, Kerr said "Sometimes the NBA doesn't make any sense. Everybody is human. Don't succumb to the noise."
— Kerith Burke (@KerithBurke) March 24, 2022
Steve Kerr on Jordan Poole: “He was fantastic running high screen and roll late in the game.” pic.twitter.com/Tk3xq6Bt8g
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 24, 2022
Kerr on Kuminga: "He's so gifted. So explosive." pic.twitter.com/eVNtck46vu
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 24, 2022
Steve Kerr with a vote of confidence with Andrew Wiggins who has been struggling mightily.
— Jason Dumas (@JDumasReports) March 24, 2022
Wiggins was 8-16 for 22 points tonight. pic.twitter.com/8Gm1vaXMxK
Players Discuss the Game
Jordan Poole led the team in scoring with 30 points, while Jonathan Kuminga played a great overall game (fouling out aside) finishing as a team high +26 in 30 minutes of play. Andrew Wiggins helped sparked a 19-0 run to start the third quarter by scoring 8 consecutive points. Gary Payton’s defense and Damion Lee’s offense provided exactly what the team needed from them off the bench. In the end, with seven players on the Warriors roster out for this game, it was going to take a team effort to win and fortunately, Golden State was able to deliver.
Here’s what the Warriors’ players had to say following the game:
Jordan Poole on getting doubled by Miami, one of the best defenses in the NBA:
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 24, 2022
"It's pretty cool. For sure for sure." pic.twitter.com/XlzYpI5S6U
Jordan Poole on the Heat doubling him in the second half:
— Mark Haynes (@markhaynesnba) March 24, 2022
“Yeah, they started to double too, early in the second half...I'm a willing passer and if they're going to send two up top, we got a lot of players who can make plays and make the right play.”
D-Lee on Jordan Poole: “He can do it all” pic.twitter.com/ZUK3zEPRci
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 24, 2022
“Sometimes you’ve got to remind yourself who you are”
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 24, 2022
D-Lee spoke about his bounce-back 22-point effort in the Warriors' win over Miami pic.twitter.com/FtCxgKDlex
Kuminga shines more light on Draymond's message to the Dubs after Tuesday's disappointing loss to Orlando pic.twitter.com/MQ87T0zhjT
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 24, 2022
Wiggs gives big praise to Kuminga after the win:
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 24, 2022
“He’s nice. Man, he’s nice" pic.twitter.com/nYYrlahmTT
Quote of the Night
The quotes of the night belongs to Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Jordan Poole. After a disappointing stretch of games this past week, it’s nice to see the Warriors happy and cheering each other on:
Team in blue had a night down in Miami. You love to see it!!! #DubNation
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) March 24, 2022
Klay crashed D-Lee's postgame interview pic.twitter.com/TImbxm9CPu
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 24, 2022
Family first. pic.twitter.com/ny0hyqn5Zi
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) March 24, 2022
*Bonus Quote:
One of the bigger moments from Wednesday’s game was a heated argument between Heat star Jimmy Butler and their head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Here’s Spoelstra explaining what happened:
"It's pretty clear. We have a very competitive, gnarly group and we were getting our asses kicked."
— Yahoo Sports NBA (@YahooSportsNBA) March 24, 2022
Erik Spoelstra on the argument on the Heat bench.
(via @BallyHEAT) pic.twitter.com/HVzor7ZmsB
Recap
With this win, the Warriors snap their 3-game winning streak and move to 48-25 on the season. With less than 10 games remaining in the regular season, Golden State still trails the Memphis Grizzlies by 2 games. The good news is that they increased their lead on the Utah Jazz to 3 games. Up next, the Warriors will continue their road trip with a Friday matchup against the Atlanta Hawks.