Star duo struggle again as discipline Miami Heat teach the Golden State Warriors a lesson

The Golden State Warriors have lost their second-straight game, falling to the Miami Heat 114-102 in a rather one-sided final three-quarters at Chase Center on Thursday night.

After combining for just 27 points on 10-33 shooting on Christmas Day in Denver, the backcourt duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson again struggled as the Warriors failed to find the firepower against an undermanned but typically disciplined Heat outfit.

The Miami Heat controlled the final three periods as the Golden State Warriors again sink beneath .500 31 games through the season

Curry and Thompson combined for 26 points on 7-26 shooting, with the duo's performance emblematic of one of the Warriors' worst shooting performances of the season.

After taking a 25-22 lead at the end of the opening period, Golden State quickly relinquished the advantage and were punished for some sloppy ball security. While Miami didn't record a single turnover till late in the first-half, Jonathan Kuminga had six himself in a second-quarter where the Warriors fell down by 14.

A late burst cut the half-time lead to seven, but any momentum Curry and Golden State built failed to translate to a frustrating second-half where the offensive woes continued. They did manage to avoid the turnovers issues from the opening 24 minutes, but nonetheless the Warriors finished the game shooting just 8-of-33 (24.2%) from beyond the arc.

Quite remarkably, eight Warrior players scored in double-digits but not one scored more than 13 points on the night. Curry, in particular, felt the remnants of his Christmas Day difficulties with 13 points on 3-of-15 shooting.

The Golden State bench again provided some force, yet unlike other rivals Miami actually had the capacity to match them. While Dario Saric, Andrew Wiggins, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Moses Moody each scored 10 or 11 points, and Chris Paul added nine points, four rebounds and four assists, young forward Jamal Cain had a career-high 18 points and six rebounds for the Heat off the bench.

Playing without veteran star Jimmy Butler and a trio of regular contributors in Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin and Josh Richardson, Miami were led by 26 points from Tyler Herro, 17 points and 11 rebounds from Bam Adebayo, and 17 points, five rebounds and six assists from impressive rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr.

Jackson-Davis was a positive again for the Warriors with his third career double-double, joining Wiggins and Moody as the only players in the regular rotation to record a positive plus-minus. Thompson and Kuminga were each a game-worst -26 in the 12-point defeat.

It's far from an ideal start to a seven-game home-stand for Golden State, with the challenges not getting any easier when Luka Doncic and the 18-14 Dallas Mavericks visit on Saturday night.