Game information
Who: Golden State Warriors (17-6) vs. Miami Heat (11-11)
When: 4:00pm PST - Sunday, December 3
Where: AmericanAirlines Arena, Miami, FL
How to watch: NBCSBA
How to listen: Q 102.1 FM
Enemy’s blog: Hot Hot Hoops
Injury report
Last updated 12/2/17, 8:00 a.m.
Warriors: Andre Iguodala (knee, questionable) Stephen Curry (probable, hand), Kevin Durant (probable, ankle)
Heat: Hassan Whiteside (out, knee)
The Warriors
On Friday night, the Warriors returned to form against the Orlando Magic by racking up 46 assists in a 20-point win. Stephen Curry looked more like himself despite the hand injury, and the squad looked awesome. Going into the road trip, the Dubs were nursing a series of minor injuries. With a game against New Orleans tomorrow, maybe Kerr will consider sitting a star or two, or at least reduce their minutes in Miami.
We love talking about him, but keep your eye on Jordan Bell’s minutes. He catalyzes the Warriors on both ends of the floor when he plays, and the Heat will be missing Hassan Whiteside. Bell’s impact could be especially maximized with big minutes tonight.
That said, Kerr might look to use Bell more in the Pelicans game to battle DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis. Playing in both games is not mutually exclusive, but given the team’s talent, it makes sense to give players their rest on a back-to-back in the middle of a long road trip.
The Heat
As aforementioned, Hassan Whiteside, the Heat rebounding maven, is out with a knee injury. Whiteside’s injury is a big deal for the Heat and will likely hurt the team down the road. Bam Adebayo, the athletic-rookie big man, will likely see an increase in minutes. In his usual 14 minutes per game, Adebayo is averaging almost five points and four rebounds with 0.7 win shares. Adebayo is off to a great start for a 20-year-old and I’m interested to see how he handles Golden State’s front-court depth.
On Bill Simmons’ podcast, Steve Kerr mentioned that one of the keys to building a successful NBA team is having “6-7 players who can guard.” Miami’s Justice Winslow and James Johnson (best neck tattoo in the NBA) fall into Kerr’s category. Winslow has yet to find his offensive game in the NBA, but could force some bad shots depending on who he guards. Johnson is having another solid season (1.4 WS, 0.6 VORP) and plays as hard as anyone. Both will be tenacious on defense, but for Miami to win, each needs to score.
Two ways the Warriors could lose
1) If the Heat slow the game down his team down, limit turnovers, and force the Warriors into foul trouble, Miami could keep the game close. Without Whiteside though, such a strategy might be difficult because Miami won’t be snagging offensive rebounds at their usual clip.
2) Steve Kerr might also choose to let a star or two sit the Miami game out. That would be fine. IF he does, we should expect a closer game. Just like Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City this season, we can’t expect Thompson, or Curry, or anyone else to do it all. If two of the Big 4 sits, Nick Young, Omri Casspi, or Patrick McCaw will need to come up big.
I expect the Warriors to win tonight. Dion Waiters just cannot be the man who ends the road win streak.