Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson lead Warriors to win in Miami

If the Golden State Warriors are going to make history, they’re going to have some slug fests in the final months of the season, as teams ramp up their play heading into the postseason. On Wednesday night, the Warriors and the Miami Heat slugged out in the second half, after the Warriors trailed the entire first half.

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The Warriors came out absolutely flat in the first quarter and had trouble hitting shots against the Heat. At the end of the first quarter, the Heat held a 30-21 advantage. They would hold their lead until the second half, when the Warriors finally broke through behind Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

With no lead changes in the first two frames, the two teams traded the lead back and forth an astounding eight times. Curry was cooking just as he always is, but he wasn’t getting the help from his teammates that he needed and the Heat kept the pressure on.

Finally it was the other splash brother, Thompson, that stepped up huge in the fourth to provide the big breaks that the Warriors needed as they aimed for win No. 51.

His 17 points in the fourth quarter pushed the Warriors late. Just as he has been all road trip, Thompson was once again the catalyst to the Warriors’ success. He along with Curry combined for 75 points for Golden State.

After Golden State took a four-point lead, the Heat came back and took the lead with under two minutes off a Luol Deng three and a big shot from Hassan Whiteside off a feed from Wade. Suddenly, the Warriors found themselves down two with 90 seconds remaining.

After all the lead changes in the third quarter, there were even more in the fourth quarter alone. With the Warriors down two, Curry would drain a huge three to put the team back up by one, to make it 107-106. A relentless Wade got to the line and put the Warriors up by one, but as fate would have it, Curry would drill yet another three to put the Warriors on top again.

Justise Winslow would miss a tip-in off a Wade miss, and Draymond Green would sink to huge free throws to extend the advantage to four. After a dragic layup, the Heat would foul Curry and he would sink his free throws to push it back to four.

Thompson and Curry would each make a couple of free throws after a clear basket violation and that would be it, as the Warriors pulled out their 51st win of the season.

Tale of the Tape

Warriors

• Field-goal percentage: 46.7% (42-90)
• Three-point percentage: 46.4% (13-28)
• Rebounds: 43
• Assists: 23
• Turnovers: 13

Heat

• Field-goal percentage: 46.5% (40-86)
• Three-point percentage: 42.9% (6-14)
• Rebounds: 46
• Assists: 19
• Turnovers: 12

Good to Know

What’s on Tap

The Warriors will face the Orlando Magic on Thursday night.