Two-way contracted guard Pat Spencer has taken advantage of an incredibly short-handed Golden State Warriors team on Wednesday in Miami, falling just short of a remarkable triple-double at Kaseya Center.
Spencer's 11 points, eight rebounds and 13 assists weren't enough to spring a surprise upset victory, with the Warriors falling to a gallant 110-96 defeat to the Heat after incredibly taking a two-point lead into the final period.
Pat Spencer impressed in a loss to the Heat on Wednesday
Having lost to the Orlando Magic the night before, Golden State opted to rest stars Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green as the veteran trio joined Al Horford and Jonathan Kuminga on the sidelines in Miami.
What was left was a make-shift Warrior rotation that battled hard through the first three-quarters, overcoming horrible shooting percentages to make a game of it and threaten an improbable victory against a Heat team that welcomed the return of Bam Adebayo.
Spencer played 32 minutes off the bench and was a team-high +10, but the same positive impression couldn't be said for Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody or Buddy Hield who all faltered under more offensive volume.
That trio combined to shoot just 16-of-51 (31.4%) from the floor, with Golden State shooting just 36.2% as a team which included a dismal 13-of-49 (26.5%) from 3-point range. What made Spencer's performance all the more impressive was the fact he had just two turnovers to his 13 assists, but the Warriors once again gave the ball away 21 times in an area that completely ravaged their chances of victory.
Quinten Post inexplicably had five of those turnovers in his 26 minutes off the bench, but the second-year center still pressed his claim for more minutes and was one of the bigger positive for the Warriors in the 14-point loss.
Post finished with 19 points, six rebounds and two assists on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor, having showed nice touch around the rim on occassion while nailing three of his seven attempts from beyond the arc.
Podziemski led the Warriors in scoring with 20 points and eight rebounds, yet shot just 6-of-19 from the floor in the process. Moody has fallen flat since his career-high 32 points against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, going for just 15 points on 21 shots over this back-to-back to end the road-trip.
The Warriors will now head home with a 9-8 record through 17 games, and will now prepare for a five-game home-stand that starts with the visiting Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.