Warriors open road trip in Miami with 122-105 loss vs. surging Heat

The talent of the Miami Heat was too much for the young Golden State Warriors, but rookie Jordan Poole was able to put together one of his best performances of his young career.

The wins haven’t been there, but over the past handful of games, the Golden State Warriors have looked like a competent team. They’ve battled wire-to-wire against teams with far better talent, but against the Miami Heat, it was a different story.

The Heat showed why they’re one of the league’s best-looking teams to start the 2019-20 season. Jimmy Butler and rookie standout, Tyler Herro, whacked the Warriors from start to finish ending in a 122-105 post-Thanksgiving beatdown.

First Quarter

This game started and virtually ended in the first quarter for the Warriors. The Heat jumped out to a 20-point lead in the opening period on 16-for-21 shooting from the floor and 6-of-8 beyond the arc.

Michigan product, Duncan Robinson, splashed four three-pointers good for 12 points in the first quarter. While Alec Burks added 10 for Golden State, the rest of the Warriors only combined for only 11 total points. Ontop of hot shooting to start the game, the Heat outrebounded Golden State 14-5 in the first quarter alone.

The Warriors played Miami fairly even in the second and third quarters. However, they could never overcome the opening punch before the Heat dropped the knockout blow in the fourth and final quarter.

Jordan Poole

The Warriors 2019 first-round draft pick, Jordan Poole, has had his early struggles widely documented, but the rookie took his step in the right direction after having one of his best shooting nights in South Beach.

Poole knocked down five three-pointers on six attempts— his best night beyond the arc in his career. Poole tied his NBA career-high with 20 points against Miami, but it wasn’t what was in the box score that was encouraging about Poole’s night.

For one of the first times in weeks, Poole looked confident on the court; he looked like he was having fun. Poole wasn’t forcing anything, using his ability to put the ball on the floor when needed, and even started throwing around a nice shot-fake. Most of Poole’s shots came in rhythm, which is something he’s struggled to find as a rookie.

Defensive Struggles

The Warriors are coming off one of their best defensive performances of the season against the Chicago Bulls, only allowing 90 total points, but in Miami, the defensive unit was a problem.

Over Golden State’s recent stretch with Draymond Green back, and the arrival of Ky Bowman, the Warriors defense has improved, but their issues containing the pick-and-roll crept back up in South Beach.

Goran Dragic came off the bench and was unstoppable, running the pick-and-roll against the Warriors limited defense. Dragic scored 20-points off the bench and dropped five dimes.

The Heat didn’t do Golden State’s hobbled defense any favors, shooting over 50 percent from the field and three-point range.

Even after a 17-point loss, there’s still a positive feeling surrounding the Warriors as they could be getting back Kevon Looney, D’Angelo Russell and Jacob Evans III at some point during the team’s current road trip.