Heat player Jimmy Butler (right) enters the basket off the mark of Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warrriors in the game on Jan. 3, 2022, in San Francisco.
AP
The Heat played the best team in the NBA, the Warriors, on equal terms, but ultimately fell 115-108, Monday night at the Chase Center in San Francisco, in their second consecutive loss after a streak of five. wins in a row.
With 3:14 left in the third quarter, Jimmy Butler sprained his right ankle and did not return to the game.
The good news for the Heat (23-15), who will continue their tour on Wednesday against the Trail Blazers in Portland, was the comeback of PJ Tucker after being out with injury since mid-December.
Tucker scored six points, with three rebounds and one assist.
The great Warriors figure (29-7), Steph Curry, only contributed nine points and hit just a triple of ten attempts, with a very low percentage in that department of 10%.
The best scorers for the Heat were Butler with 22 points, Caleb Martin with 19, Tyler Herro 18, Kyle Lowry with 15 and 11 assists, Kyle Guy with 14 points and Omer Yurtseven with five and 16 rebounds.
Yurtseven was coming off four games with a double-double and had his ninth straight game with 12 or more rebounds.
While for the Warriors, Jordan Poole Jr. stood out with 32 points, Andrew Wiggins 22, Gary Payton II 14, Otto Porter Jr. and Nemanja Bjelica with 10 cards each.
Draymond Green reappeared after complying with the Covid-19 protocol and was a very important figure in Golden State. In the first half he did not score points but gave 10 assists and on defense he was fierce. And he finished with five points 13 assists.
The Warriors took off at full steam and imposed their effectiveness on three-point shots. The Heat had a hard time asserting themselves and managed to shake off in the second quarter after being down by 13 points, when the score was 28-15.
At that time, Yurtseven left the field with a cut at the height of the eyebrow that received two points. There the Heat lost power in the rebounds and the rival took full advantage of the momentary exit of the Turk.
In a 12-3 run the Heat approached the score 40-37 and after tying at 43 they went ahead 46-43.
The Warriors recovered and were able to go to halftime 59-54, but it was clear that the game was extremely even.
This is the first meeting of a series of two agreed for this regular season. Last year the series was 1-1. The meeting between the Heat and the Warriors is so close that the West are leading 32-34 before Monday’s game.
Before the game, Klay Thompson practiced shooting drills on the court. The ace is expected to return next Sunday after more than two and a half years of absence due to a torn internal anterior ligament and a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Date change
The game between the Heat and the Raptors scheduled for February 3 in Toronto was advanced to the 1st. This is because the schedule has been reconfigured to accommodate three postponed games for the Canadian team and the postponed meeting of Miami against the Spurs in San Antonio.
The Heat’s presentation in Ontario will mark Lowry’s return to Toronto for the first time to face his former club.
The Heat’s seven-game road trip:
12/29 vs. Spurs, postponed *
* (This game will be played on February 3)
12/31 Heat 120, Rockets 110
02/01 Kings 115, Heat 113
03/01 Warriors 115, Heat 108
05/01 Portland Trail Blazers
08/01 Phoenix Suns
12/01 Atlanta Hawks
This story was originally published on January 4, 2022 12:42 am.
.
We wish to thank the author of this short article for this amazing web content
The Heat give advantage with Butler injury and lose against the best team in the NBA