How the Warriors would game plan for the Miami Heat
The Heat are an extremely versatile team that wins through perseverance and physicality. They move the ball and don’t care who scores most of the time. That being said, they still live and die by Jimmy Butler.
Shutting down Butler is priority number one for the Golden State Warriors.
The most likely defense will be what we saw them use against Luka Doncic in the Western Conference Finals. Andrew Wiggins defending, and when they try to get a switch onto Steph Curry or Jordan Poole, they give a hard hedge allowing Wiggins to recover.
Another way to slow Butler down could be to keep Kevon Looney or Jonathan Kuminga parked in the paint using a 2-3 zone. This would force Butler to take jumpers, an aspect of his game that can be inconsistent at times.
The next priority would be to play physical against the Heat. While the Heat tend to play physical, hard-nosed defense, they also tend to struggle playing against teams that return the favor.
The Warriors could use heavy minutes from the 19-year-old rookie Jonathan Kuminga as well as Juan Toscano-Anderson to help add that physical aspect while avoiding foul trouble for players like Kevon Looney or Draymond Green.
Gary Payton II likely making his return from a fractured elbow should help this approach as well. Keeping hands in shooters’ faces will also be important, especially when Butler sits, meaning the Warriors will likely run a man-to-man defense when Butler sits to keep shooters from getting hot.
Limiting Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, and Tyler Herro from getting open threes is just as important as keeping guys like Butler and Adebayo from getting good looks in the paint.
They will need to continue to close out on shooters, which is something they had trouble throughout the first two games against the Mavericks but have typically been pretty good about against other teams.
The Golden State Warriors vs. the Miami Heat would make for an entertaining matchup, especially since both teams will play physical basketball if they match up against each other. Many underrate this Heat squad, so it may even be an incredibly close series.