Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called a recommitment to defense his
team’s New Year’s resolution. It took two quarters Saturday for
that message to sink in. After trailing by as many as 20 points in
the first half, the Heat defeated the Golden State Warriors,
114-107, on Saturday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.
MIAMI
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called a recommitment to defense his team’s New Year’s resolution. It took two quarters Saturday for that message to sink in.
After trailing by as many as 20 points in the first half, the Heat defeated the Golden State Warriors, 114-107, on Saturday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. Guard Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 25 points to go along with eight assists and six rebounds. Forward LeBron James scored 25 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field and had 10 assists and seven rebounds.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Spoelstra said. “And we hope the malaise we were in in the first half was an aberration. We hope it’s not a carry-over from the last game.”
The Heat allowed a season-high 119 points Wednesday against the Houston Rockets. Spoelstra said the team returned to “training camp” during Friday’s practice in an attempt to reestablish defensive habits. And then, before Saturday’s game, Spoelstra said he wanted his team to begin 2011 like it began December — with “humility and hunger.”
It didn’t start that way against the Warriors, but it ended with the Heat playing intense defense against a team featuring former Heat first-round draft pick Dorell Wright in his first game back since signing with Golden State. He finished with 30 points.
Saturday’s win tied the Heat (26-9) with the Boston Celtics atop the Eastern Conference. The Heat has won 17 of its past 18 games, including its past four.
“Just looking where we were a month ago, we were in a bit of a hole,” said Heat forward Chris Bosh, who finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds Saturday and was the team’s only sign of life in the first half, when he had 17 points. “I think we kind of see things taking shape for us, so we just have to keep working and working.”
The Heat played with the energy of a thousand New Year’s Day hangovers during the first half. The Warriors (13-20) led 72-58 at halftime, tying a season high for points allowed by the Heat in a half. Wright had 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field and 4 of 5 from three-point range.
“You’re building bad habits by playing at that level and not competing defensively,” Spoelstra said of the first half. “Those are not the habits we want to build.”
But the Heat held the Warriors to 35 points in the second half after allowing them to score 36 points in each of the first and second quarters. The Heat outrebounded the Warriors 43-36.
The Warriors combined to shoot 63.5 percent (28-44) from the field and 62.5 percent (10-16) from three-point range in the first half. Entering Saturday, the Heat led the NBA in opponents” field-goal percentage (42.3 percent) and opponents” three-point field-goal percentage (31.1).
“Mentally, we weren’t in the game,” James said. “We didn’t have a lot of energy. We just didn’t have what we usually have on the defensive end.”
Said Wade: “So, pretty much what he said was, ‘We sucked,” to sum that up.”
In early December, the Warriors managed only 88 points against the Heat, which used its defense to trigger a 15-1 run during the month. The Heat found that same energy in the second half Saturday. The Warriors didn’t score their first field goal of the third quarter until Stephen Curry’s layup with 6:27 remaining. By that time, the Heat already had gone on a 21-3 run bridging the second and third quarters.
Surprisingly, it was Heat center Zydrunas Ilgauskas who led the defensive comeback in the third quarter. His strips and blocks throughout the first six minutes of the third quarter led to fast-break points, which quickly cut into Golden State’s substantial first-half lead.
The Heat outscored the Warriors 25-12 in the third quarter and trailed 84-83 to begin the fourth. The Heat took the lead with 11:27 left in the game on two free throws by Bosh. Similar to the third quarter, the Heat shut down the Warriors to begin the fourth. Golden State didn’t score its first field goal of the quarter until 6:54 remained in the game.
The Warriors began the game on a tear, making 10 of 12 three-point attempts. Wright’s hot hand in the first half, along with 16 points from Monta Ellis, gave the Warriors a comfortable lead to begin the third quarter. Ellis finished with 25 points on 7-of-16 shooting. He also made 8 of 10 free throws and had seven assists.
Heat reserve James Jones had 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from three-point range. His three-pointer with 11:07 left in the game gave the Heat an 88-84 lead. Carlos Arroyo had 11 points, making 3 of 4 shots from three-point range.
“We were so much more active and it started at the head, on the ball,” Spoelstra said. “Carlos, LeBron and Dwyane were all very active and were able to put enough pressure on the ball to get some steals.”
— Story by Joseph Goodman, The Miami Herald
