Warriors reliance on Stephen Curry reaches horrible new low in dismal loss to Heat

An over-reliance on a 36-year-old superstar has never been more glaring for the Golden State Warriors, with that continuing in a disappointing 114-98 loss to the Miami Heat at Chase Center on Tuesday night.

Despite entering after a double overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings on Monday, it was the Heat who produced more energy in the first-half as they built a double-digit lead over the hosts. Nothing typified the difference more than the final second of the half where Haywood Highsmith scrambled over a lazy Stephen Curry box out to get a buzzer-beating put-back layup.

It also signified the burden Curry had to shoulder offensively in the first two-quarters, having posted 20 points despite his team trailing 61-48. The 2x MVP was a hot 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range, but every other Warrior combined to go 2-of-19 from beyond the arc in an ugly shooting display.

The Warriors yet again struggled offensively on Tuesday night

Golden State did pick things up in the third-quarter to get within six, then pulled to within one at 87-86 early in the fourth-quarter. Then came the defining sequence where Curry and Buddy Hield both pulled ill-advised hero-style threes that would have given the Warriors the lead, only for the Heat to drill three-straight triples of their own to quickly extend the lead to 10 in less than a minute.

Miami's legendary head coach Erik Spoelstra employed a zone defense for most of the game, with Golden State unable to capitalize on some wide open looks from three. They went 14-of-15 (28%) from beyond the arc as a team, and 6-of-33 (18.8%) if you take away Curry's 8-of-17 from deep.

Curry finished with 31 points and seven rebounds on 11-of-22 shooting in 33 minutes, delivering his second consecutive strong performance in games the Warriors have lost by a combined 46 points on their home floor.

Veteran guards Dennis Schroder and Buddy Hield were the main culprits in terms of the 3-point shooting woes, having combined to go 3-of-16 from beyond the arc. Schroder's struggles continued since last month's trade, scoring just five points on 2-of-10 shooting in nearly 29 minutes.

Golden State desperately missed not only Jonathan Kuminga's scoring ability, but his capacity to attack the rim and break the Heat's zone defense. Trayce Jackson-Davis played a career-high 35 minutes to try and give the Warriors some level of paint presence, with the second-year center going for a season-high 19 points to go with seven rebounds.

Draymond Green flirted with a triple-double with seven points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, but the veteran forward's impact felt more minimal than those numbers suggest. The Warriors gravely require Andrew Wiggins to step up in Kuminga's absence, yet the 2022 All-Star failed to deliver with just nine points on 4-of-10 shooting.

If the Golden State offense wasn't bad enough, their defense was hardly better in giving up half a dozen and-one opportunities to the Heat while also twice fouling 3-point shooters in the second-half.

The Warriors will now head on a four-game road-trip, starting with a now very challenging matchup with the Pistons in Detroit on Thursday.