The Golden State Warriors host the visiting Miami Heat, who are fresh-off a two-overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings.

Catch the game tomorrow at 11:00 AM, Manila time.

AWAY: Miami Heat (17-17, 7-10 AWAY)

Projected starting five:

  • Tyler Herro
  • Terry Rozier
  • Haywood Highsmith
  • Jaime Jaquez Jr.
  • Bam Adebayo

Still in the middle of the Jimmy Butler saga, the Heat suffered their third-straight defeat on Tuesday after squandering a 17-point Fourth Quarter lead to the Sacramento Kings, 123-118, in double overtime – even worse, the Kings were also without De’Aaron Fox. Miami is averaging 111.0 points per game in that span, but have allowed 128, 136, and 123 in return.

Tyler Herro, Terry Rozier, and Bam Adebayo remain as the top weapons, but don’t be surprised if they play slow or off considering they just had two extra frames with zero-days rest. Newly inserted starter Jaime Jaquez Jr. posted a triple-double (16 pts, 11 rebs, 10 ast, 5 stls) during Tuesday’s defeat, so he’ll be someone to watch out for.

Nikola Jovic (21 mins) and Duncan Robinson (25 mins) didn’t see particularly huge playing time in the 58-minute game, so they could have some shine since they’ll have fresher legs. In that regard, keep an eye on rookies Kel’e’ Ware and Pelle Larsson too.

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HOME: Golden State Warriors (18-17, 10-9 HOME)

Projected starting five:

  • Stephen Curry
  • Dennis Schroder
  • Andrew Wiggins
  • Draymond Green
  • Trayce Jackson-Davis

The Warriors are also coming off a loss to the Kings. Unlike the Heat, though, it was a one-sided affair as they were trashed, 128-99. The Dubs are now 6-14 in their last 20 games (107.0 PPG, -5.2 net rating) after starting out strong at 12-3.

Stephen Curry was back after a one-game absence and scored 26 points on 8-of-12 shooting, so he seems good to go again. He could easily take advantage of a likely tired Heat defense. Then again, he did go just 10-for-30 (5/18 from 3) for 15.0 PPG from the floor in two meetings with them last season. His 22.3 PPG on the season is also his lowest since 2012-13 (excluding his injury-plagued 2019-20).

Backing Curry will once again be Andrew Wiggins (16.7 PPG, 18 pts vs. SAC), and it’s anyone’s guess after that. Dennis Schroder could be that guy, but he’s at 9.9 PPG on 32.4 FG% in 10 games with the team. Big man Trayce Jackson-Davis’s hot run appears to be cooling down as he was only used for 18 minutes and went scoreless vs. SAC. Further, Brandin Podziemski is nursing an abdominal injury, Buddy Hield has basically fallen off the rotation, and Moses Moody doesn’t appear to have the coaching staff’s full trust.

Now, while all of that sounds discouraging, they appear to be in good position because the Heat are on the second game of a back-to-back.

PICKS:

Spread: Warriors (-9.5)

Over/Under: Over (219)

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