Jonathan Kuminga grabbed an offensive rebound midway through the third quarter and passed the ball to Stephen Curry, who made a 3-pointer from the midcourt logo featuring the Heat Culture. The Warriors’ bench and fans cheered loudly. This wasn’t in San Francisco but in Miami.
The Warriors’ trend of having more wins on the road than at home continued on Tuesday night. With Klay Thompson returning to the starting lineup and scoring 28 points, along with Kuminga adding 18, the Warriors beat the still-shorthanded Miami Heat 113-92.
“Our assist-to-turnover ratio was really good,” Thompson said, noting the Warriors’ 30 assists and 12 total turnovers. “That’s always a great indicator of if it’s a good night at the office.”
The Warriors have a record of 18-19 at home and 19-15 on the road, making them the second team in NBA history to finish with a winning record while having a sub-.500 records at home.
“Steph’s got so many fans across the country and a lot of people cheer for him no matter where we are,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
Curry and Andrew Wiggins each scored 17 for Golden State, which led by two at halftime and then extended their lead to as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter.
Bam Adebayo scored 24 points for Miami, which played without leading scorer Jimmy Butler due to illness, along with Tyler Herro (foot), Kevin Love (heel), and Duncan Robinson (back).
Thompson led the Warriors’ scoring with 28 points, shooting 11 for 20 from the field and 6 for 14 on 3-pointers. Miami trailed 87-81 early in the fourth quarter but Golden State outscored them 26-11 for the rest of the game.
“We could never get it to the moment of truth,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And you have to credit Golden State.”
With the win, the Warriors moved a full game ahead of Houston in the race for 10th place in the Western Conference, securing the final play-in spot.
Miami remained seventh in the Eastern Conference, tied with Philadelphia but holding a higher position due to a head-to-head tiebreaker. However, they are 1 1/2 games behind Indiana in the race for the sixth playoff spot in the East.
