The Miami Heat began their five-game road trip against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night at the Chase Centre.
Despite missing two starters in Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry, as well as two rotation players in Caleb Martin and Josh Richardson, Miami won convincingly 114-102, snapping the Warriors’ eight-game home winning run.
In absence of Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry, Jamal Cain and several bench players led the Heat to a victory in Golden State.
Jamal Cain, Game Ball
With the wing rotation being as sparse as it has ever been, Jamal Cain stepped in and made an immediate impact. While many will look at the stats and see that Cain tied his career high with 18 points and six rebounds, Cain’s effect extended beyond the box score.
Cain was tenacious on the glass in several instances, earning the Heat second-chance opportunities while also fighting for 50/50 rebounds on the defensive side to complete defensive stops.
The most impressive aspect of Cain’s performance was his defensive effort while guarding Stephen Curry, one of the game’s most prolific scorers.
Cain did an excellent job of protecting Curry, making sure he didn’t get any clean shots and using his length to his benefit. Curry concluded the night with 13 points on 3 for 15 shooting, and Cain played a significant influence in Curry’s poor performance. According to NBA.com tracking data, Curry was 0 for 4 with Cain guarding him.
7 turnovers were recorded during the game.
When playing the Warriors, the last thing Miami could afford was to turn the ball over frequently and have Curry and Klay Thompson hit open 3s in transition.
Despite missing their floor general in Kyle Lowry and fielding a totally new starting five, the Heat only turned the ball over seven times to Golden State’s thirteen. The Heat had one turnover at halftime, compared to Golden State’s nine.
Seven turnovers ties a season low for the Heat, whose last game with less than ten giveaways was a Dec. 6 win in Toronto.
Miami’s offence was clicking, with several assists coming off dribble penetration as well as finding guys in transition or cutting to the basket.
In a game in which
R.J. Hampton tossed up a lob for Bam Adebayo early in the third quarter that would have been out of reach for most players. And unless Adebayo was the same height as Yao Ming, there was no chance he could dunk the ball.
Instead, Adebayo reached back, placed the ball between his fingers, and guided it towards the backboard.
Not only was the challenge level great, but the lob came at a key point in the game. Prior to the Adebayo tip drill, Golden State scored on three consecutive possessions, the third of which was a Curry and-one that cut the Heat advantage to three.
The Warriors went as close as three points before Adebayo’s lob stretched the Heat’s advantage to five and they never looked back.
