The visiting Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors will meetTuesday night in San Francisco, with each team having experienced an embarrassing defeat in the past four days.
The Heat’s one-sided loss came on the eve of their current six-game trip when they were blown out 136-100 at home by the Utah Jazz.
Taking advantage of a day off and a long flight to Sacramento in the wake of the franchise-shaking news of a Jimmy Butler suspension, the Heat managed a much better effort Monday night against the Kings in a 123-118 double-overtime defeat.
Playing 58 minutes could have taken a toll, however, as all five Heat starters were extended 41 or more minutes on the front end of their back-to-back.
Riding a strong second-half defense, the Heat led by as many as 17 points before watching the Kings rally down the stretch of regulation.
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said, with or without Butler, his team’s defense is good enough to win ballgames.
“You go on the road, you have to have your defense travel,” he said. “Things happen during the course of a long season. We just have to recalibrate and get back to our (defensive) identity.”
The Warriors’ humiliation also came at home when they were thrashed 129-99 by the rival Kings on Sunday night.
For Golden State, the defeat was its second of the season by 30 or more points. The last time it happened, the Warriors rebounded from a 144-93 drubbing at Memphis on Dec. 19 with a 113-103 win at Minnesota two nights later.
“We shake it off,” Warriors veteran Kevon Looney said of the secret to bouncing back. “We lost some games and we got blown out, and we always respond the right way. We got a lot of competitive guys in that locker room, guys that hate to lose, so we’re definitely going to shake it off and be back, play a lot better.”
The Sunday game was the Warriors’ first since the news of losing Jonathan Kuminga for at least three weeks with a sprained right ankle.
Golden State had hoped Dennis Schroder and Buddy Hield would help fill the void, but they combined for just 10 points on 4-for-14 shooting against the Kings.
Seeing the Heat without Butler, who is expected to miss Miami’s entire Western swing, will be nothing new for the Warriors. The Miami star hasn’t played in a game against Golden State since Nov. 1, 2022.
The clubs split decisions last season, each winning on the opponent’s home floor. Jamal Cain (18 points) and Nikola Jovic (11) came off the bench to help fill the void of Butler’s absence in the most recent meeting in San Francisco, a 114-102 Heat victory in December 2023.
The Warriors will be playing at home for the eighth time in nine games. They’ve gone just 3-4 on the home floor in the stretch, losing to the Indiana Pacers, the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers and the Kings.
–Field Level Media
