Heat vs. Warriors Recap: Curry's Third-Quarter Surge Sinks Miami in 120-100 Loss

SAN FRANCISCO - The Miami Heat's second night of a back-to-back unraveled after halftime. Stephen Curry scored 29 points, and the Golden State Warriors outscored Miami 38-23 in the third quarter on the way to a 120-100 win at Chase Center on Thursday night, dropping the Heat to 3-6.

This Heat vs. Warriors recap begins with a tie game. Miami led 29-26 after one quarter and the teams went to the locker rooms level at 49-49. By the end of the third, Golden State led 91-76, and the Heat never found a way back. Golden State has now won six straight since an 0-3 start, per the AP game report.

Curry Takes Over in the Third Quarter

Curry started the night 1 for 8 and was 2 of 10 at halftime. Then he found his rhythm. He finished 9 of 19 from the field and 6 of 12 from three-point range, and he rested once the game was out of hand, which kept him from a fourth straight 30-point night. Along the way he passed Oscar Robertson (26,710 points) for 17th place on the NBA's career scoring list, according to the AP.

The Warriors took their first lead of the game, 55-53, early in the third quarter. They pushed it to 75-64 before Miami called timeout with 6:09 left in the period, and the AP noted Golden State put together a 26-9 stretch that Miami could not answer. Over the full second half, the Warriors outscored the Heat 67-47.

Erik Spoelstra did not dress up the result. As reported by the Sun Sentinel, he said, "We didn't have a lot of juice," and added, "Whatever I said at halftime did not work." He also made clear he was not questioning his team's motivation:

"This is not a matter of our guys not wanting or not getting motivated. We got outplayed in the second half." - Erik Spoelstra, via the Sun Sentinel

Giannis, Bam and Mitchell Deliver, but the Support Thins Out

Davion Mitchell led Miami with 22 points and eight assists. Giannis Antetokounmpo added 20 points and 14 rebounds, and Bam Adebayo finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Those three accounted for 60 of the Heat's 100 points. Klay Thompson scored 11 in his return to Golden State, shooting 3 of 10, a night after his game-winning three-pointer in a 117-116 overtime win at the Clippers.

As a team, Miami shot 35 of 86 from the field (about 41 percent) and 13 of 44 from three (about 30 percent), while the Warriors hit 42 of 80 (about 53 percent) and went 16 of 41 from deep. Those figures come from the official NBA box score and add up to the final score.

The paint was also harder to work than the matchup suggested. Spoelstra said the Heat's openings turned into trouble: "When we felt like we had some advantages in the paint, it ended up being a strip or a block or some kind of deflection," he told reporters, and Golden State turned those into transition points.

Wiggins, Conwell and the Rotation Questions

Andrew Wiggins went 1 of 6 for two points with six rebounds and four assists, and he was pulled midway through the third quarter once the deficit reached double digits. Spoelstra addressed Wiggins' slow start before the game, saying that when he is at his best he is "so impactful defensively" and that Miami needs him on both ends.

Rookie Ryan Conwell, a second-round pick out of Louisville in 2026, again earned rotation minutes, this time ahead of Dru Smith, and scored 13 points after making his first three three-pointers. Conwell described his job as to "just cause havoc." It is a small sample, but he is giving Spoelstra a reason to keep experimenting.

Our read: with Antetokounmpo and Adebayo both on the floor, Miami has more offensive talent than it is using, and the Wiggins slump is part of that puzzle. That is analysis, not a confirmed plan. Spoelstra has not announced a lineup change, and the starting five has been intact all season. We examined the same questions in our Heat vs. Warriors preview and our Heat vs. Clippers preview.

Why This Loss Matters for the Heat

Three-point defense was "high on the priority list," Spoelstra said before the Warriors went 16 of 41 from deep. It is a recurring theme. The Lakers scored 138 on Nov. 2 in a game we covered in our Lakers recap, and Squawka's box-score tracking has opponents posting the league's highest estimated effective field-goal percentage against Miami at 58.0 percent.

Back-to-backs are another problem. Miami lost the second night of its previous set at Charlotte after falling at home to Detroit, according to the Sun Sentinel, so it is now 0-2 on the second night of back-to-backs after going 13-4 in those spots last season. The Heat have 13 back-to-back sets this season, so the schedule will not stop testing them.

Thompson tried to keep perspective. "I keep telling the guys that we're barely 10 percent through the regular season," he said. "We can absolutely turn it around." He is right about the sample size. Nine games is early, and Miami has shown flashes, including the comeback from 20 down against the Clippers and the offensive explosion in our NBA Cup opener recap. Consistency is the missing piece.

What to Watch Next for the Heat

Miami gets two days off before Sunday's game at the Sacramento Kings, which tips at 9 p.m. ET at Golden 1 Center. The Kings entered Friday's game against San Antonio at 1-7. The Heat then finish their five-game West Coast trip on Tuesday at Utah before a five-game homestand against Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Milwaukee and Oklahoma City.

• Defensive effort: Can Miami contest threes and avoid giving up transition points?

• Wiggins' role: Does he get more touches or does Spoelstra keep leaning on smaller lineups?

• Conwell's minutes: Will the rookie keep his spot in the rotation?

• Adebayo and Antetokounmpo: Do the two keep trading strong stretches, or do they start to dominate together? Adebayo's rebounding milestone showed what he can do at his best.

Stay with Remix Sports Media. Follow us for daily Miami Heat news, game recaps, previews and roster updates all season long, and check back Sunday for our Heat vs. Kings preview.