The Miami Heat continue their road trip as they travel to the Bay Area to face the Golden State Warriors in what should be an entertaining battle between teams with likeable superstars in Jimmy Butler and Stephen Curry. More on this game below.
Catch this game live on Thursday, February 18, at 11 AM, Manila time
HOME TEAM: Golden State Warriors (15-13, 10-6 at home)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Stephen Curry
- SG: Kelly Oubre Jr.
- SF: Juan Toscano-Anderson
- SF: Andrew Wiggins
- PF: Draymond Green
The Warriors are back on track. They followed up their loss to the Brooklyn Nets last Sunday with a 129-98 demolition job of the Cleveland Cavaliers at home Tuesday.
Stephen Curry continues to be a force on the offensive end, scoring 36 points on 13-of-19 shooting with seven 3-pointers on 11 attempts. Curry is just on a different level, and he’ll have to continue playing that way for the Warriors, who are averaging 114.5 points per game.
Curry has put up 34.5 points on 58.0 FG% and 51.2 3FG% over the Warriors’ last 10 games, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down. Although the Warriors are playing small of late, they have somehow found a way to limit opponents from taking advantage in the shaded area. Golden State has actually allowed just 41.5 points in the paint over its last four games, which is fourth in the NBA in that stretch.
The Warriors are 4-3 against the spread in their last seven games as the home team.
ROAD TEAM: Miami Heat (11-16, 4-9 on the road)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Kendrick Nunn
- SG: Duncan Robinson
- SF: Jimmy Butler
- PF: Kelly Olynyk
- C: Bam Adebayo
The Heat have some questions to answer about themselves after getting beat by a team that was led by the great Marcus Morris. Despite not having Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, the LA Clippers defeated the Heat 125-118 at STAPLES Center last Tuesday, handing the Heat’s second loss in as many games.
Jimmy Butler had 30 points, while Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro each had 27, but the Heat couldn’t defend against the long ball, allowing the Clippers to go 15 of 32 from deep and shoot 55.3 FG%.
The Heat are not a bad defensive team, and the Clippers’ hot-shooting could be dismissed as a mere anomaly, as Miami is still seventh in the NBA with just 110.1 points allowed per game. Heat opponents are making only 44.9% of their shots.
Adebayo could wreak havoc inside against the Warriors’ center-less frontcourt. Miami did just score 70 points in the paint against the Warriors, which could be a preview of what’s to come for Golden State’s interior defense.
The total has hit the under in three of the Heat’s last four games.
PREDICTIONS:
The Heat need a statement win after consecutive losses to the Utah Jazz and the Clippers. Bam Adebayo neutralizes Draymond Green while Jimmy Butler goes to work to lead Miami to a 115-110 win over Golden State.
