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 the Warriors wanted to finish a six-game homestand.
For the second game in a row, Golden State fell behind early against an opponent playing under less than ideal circumstances. And while the Warriors (18-18) 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 (18-17) 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, the Heat 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 minutes later. Nikola Jovic immediately sank a corner 3, then repeated it on the next possession — Curry closing out late both times — and Burks made it three in a row to extend the lead back to 10.
Curry checked out for good with 3:05 remaining, the Warriors trailing 112-94.
He paced aimlessly around the bench area, defeated and deflated.
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.
