Warriors look to stay hot on homestand with visit from Heat
The Golden State Warriors look to complete a highly successful homestand when they begin a back-to-back set in San Francisco with a matchup against the Miami Heat on Monday night.
Not sidetracked by a late Jimmy Butler scratch, the Warriors used strength in numbers to win their third in a row and fifth of six on their current eight-game homestand Saturday night, thrashing the Charlotte Hornets 136-116.
The winning streak, which equals the Warriors' longest of the season, pushed the club five games over .500 for the first time this season. The homestand concludes Tuesday night against the Toronto Raptors.
"We're in a good groove," coach Steve Kerr assured reporters after Saturday's win. "We needed this homestand. This is the most momentum we've had since we started out 4-1."
"It feels good. A lot of guys are really contributing, and we're really taking care of the ball night after night and allowing ourselves to get shots on goal over and over again. When we do that, you see how much firepower we have."
Interestingly, the winning streak has occurred while Stephen Curry has scored under 15 points in two of three games, and Butler had to withdraw from Saturday's lineup at the last minute for personal reasons.
But Brandin Podziemski (50 points) and Moses Moody (47) have combined to shoot 35-for-53 (66%) overall and 23-for-37 (62.2%) on 3-point attempts in the last three games, while De'Anthony Melton and Al Horford have posted a combined plus-108 plus/minus off the bench, leading the Golden State surge.
Having a long stretch at home with no back-to-backs (until this week) has helped, Kerr admitted.
"I don't think it's a coincidence that (the run has come) on this homestand with lots of rest. It's the first time we've felt really settled in a while," he said.
"With Melton and Al playing at the level they are, it just adds another dynamic to our game. Both those guys playing at such a high level has changed our team. The depth of our team right now is really our strength."
The Warriors were at the other end of the energy spectrum when they visited Miami in November. That game came on the second night of a back-to-back at the end of a six-game trip, prompting Kerr to sit Curry, Butler, Horford and Draymond Green.
The Heat won that game 110-96, getting 25 points from Norman Powell, 20 from Bam Adebayo and 17 from former Warrior Andrew Wiggins.
Like the Warriors, the Heat will face the rematch on the front end of a back-to-back, opening a five-games-in-seven-days trip. Miami will visit Sacramento on Tuesday.
The cross-country trip comes on the heels of the Heat's biggest win of the season, a 122-120 thriller at home over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday. Adebayo came up clutch, leading the way with 30 points and 12 rebounds.
Having to play without Tyler Herro, who is expected to return from a rib injury during Miami's trip, Adebayo praised the Heat's depth against the Thunder, especially the performance of undrafted rookie Myron Gardner, who contributed 11 points.
"Myron is our energy. You need teammates like him," Adebayo expressed to the media. "He's the person that has this ‘kid energy.' You know when kids run around all day and you're always looking at them like, ‘I wish I had that much energy.' He is that. He can spark us."