Takeaways from Miami Heat’s Victory over the Golden State Warriors

Photo credit: Heat.com

You don’t often see an Eastern Conference team playing a Western Conference team twice in one week. But that’s what happened when the Miami Heat hosted the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. Coming off a disappointing road loss against the Sacramento Kings, Miami was trying to get a bounce-back win back home. Both teams went back and forth throughout the whole game. The game ended up going down the wire. In the end, Miami was able to seal the victory with a huge Jimmy Butler jumper in the last seconds of the game. With the win, Miami moves to 3-5 for the season. Here are my takeaways from Tuesday’s victory over Golden State.

Strong Fourth Quarter

The Heat entered the fourth period trailing 94-86. Golden State had outscored the Heat 38-28 in the third period and pushed their lead to eight. However, in the fourth quarter, Miami was able to bounce back. The team got multiple stops down the stretch. Both Duncan Robinson and Max Strus were able to knock down a couple of triples. Most importantly, Butler was able to get his game going at the right time. He hit a nasty spin move on Andrew Wiggins to get to the basket for the and-1. A couple of possessions later, with a three-point lead, Butler was able to seal the deal with a pull-up jumper. Miami outscored Golden State 30-15 in the fourth period.

Bench Provides Spark

Miami’s offense was very shaky in the beginning of the game. There were a couple of bad isolation plays to start. Tyler Herro kept trying to drive over the Warriors’ length and was unsuccessful. With the offense not functioning to start, Butler kept taking three-pointers. Overall, there was no flow in the Heat’s offense early on. They needed a spark from somewhere else. And that spark came from the Heat’s bench trio of Gabe Vincent, Strus and Robinson. The Heat kept going with the dribble handoffs and got the offense going. There was a lot more motion in the Heat’s offense once the bench came in compared to the first unit. When there’s ball and player movement, the offense looks much smoother.

Robinson and Strus Big Night

The two players who provided a huge boost off the bench were Strus and Robinson. With the Heat’s offense struggling, Strus got offense going. He was already up to 11 points with around nine minutes left in the second period. Robinson later joined him and shined in multiple spots of the floor. There was the spot-up shooting, movement off the ball, and passing out of the double-teams. Both players are already threats with their three-point shooting. But when they provide this type of production, it helps the team out a lot. Now, it’s about being more consistent with it.

Herro Leaves Game with Eye Injury

Herro’s night ended early when he got poked in the eye during the second quarter. When battling for a rebound, Herro was swiped across the face by Warriors’ guard Moses Moody. He left the game before halftime and never returned. At the time of his departure, he had two points on 1-of-4 shooting and one block. He struggled early against the Warriors’ length and couldn’t get going offensively. After the game, the Heat guard told reporters he’s hopeful to play in Wednesday’s game against the Kings.

Next up: The Sacramento Kings. Game tips off at 7:30pm eastern time.