Golden State Warriors vs Miami Heat Prediction: Heat to make it tough on defense

The NBA Regular Season is on and frankly, the scoring line has been bloated early on. To be honest, I see the score dipping from here on as the defenses will get their legs back and make scoring tougher than now. Surely, the volume of 120+ points per night on either side will decrease and we will be heading to a 110-115 average mostly. But, hey, that is just *MY* assessment. How will the scoring gears go when the Golden State Warriors go up against the Miami Heat?

As the defending champions, of course, the Warriors come in with the loftiest of expectations. So, far they haven’t lived up to it. They come into this game after an embarrassing 105:134 loss against Conference rivals Phoenix Suns. They gave up 32+ points in three straight quarters and 29 in the fourth in what was another disappointing defensive outing. Coach Kerr was displeased at the team’s transition defense.

Offensively, Curry had 21, Poole had 17, Wiggins had 16, Green had 14, Wiseman had 13 and Moody had 13 but the latter’s two contributions were mainly in the garbage time. The Warriors scored just 39 points in the second half as Klay Thompson had an awful one-of-eight shooting night and as the frustration piled up, he lost his cool and was ejected from the game as the team lost the track in the third quarter, a quarter which they usually dominate.

The Warriors have now given up 125 or more in three straight games, something they didn’t do all season long in the 2021-2022 window, forget thrice in a row, in the whole season, they weren’t allowing these many points in total. The Defense of the second unit has looked awful and when Draymond Green sits, the team has no answer, but even with him, the help has been late and the team has not stopped early scoring in the one-two-three passes situation.

Heat has been slow off the gates, losing two of their five games. However, they had a statement win against the red-hot Trail Blazers, winning 119:98 as Bam Adebayo hurled in 18 points. Interestingly, the Heat began the season with a four-game homestand but lost three of those games in what was an under-par offensive trail. 119 is their highest season total and the team saw six players figure in the 14-18 points range.

The biggest positive was Kyle Lowry finally having a substantial impact after being off from field since the latter parts of the last season. Bam who had been quiet prior to that game, showed his usual aggressiveness and if the Heat secures such scoring balance, they will be much more difficult to beat. In the early parts of the season, the Heat has faced some indecisive moments and their play has been inferior to the last season.

But this is a team with a lot of potential. They made the Conference Finals last season and lost to the Celtics in seven games, which makes it clear that they have championship caliber. This is a team that reached the NBA Finals just a couple of seasons ago and has a LOT of experience and Tyler Herro is ready to take the next step. The Heat has the tools to go on a winning streak and this game will be huge for them in the early season going.

• Heat: OUT: Omer Yurtseven, Victor Oladipo;
• Warriors: OUT: Andre Iguodala, Donte DiVincenzo.

• Likely 20+ Points Scorers: Jimmy Butler, Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Tyler Herro;
• Likely 5+ Assists Dishers: Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry;
• Likely 8+ Rebounds Grabbers: Bam Adebayo, Draymond Green.

Both teams have played below expectations so far but hey, we haven’t reached even two weeks of action. The biggest deficiency in the Warriors' game has been their defense while the Heat has lacked the offensive grip. However, these are the type of teams that are so experienced that a 5+ Game winning streak at this point won’t be a surprise. For the Heat, they have been a strong road team and the Warriors are historically a peerless squad at home.

The Warriors have more sharpshooting options whereas the Heat can make a living on the free-throw line. The Heat can deploy a much more effective second-unit on defense but I think it is a matter of time where the Poole and Wiseman led second unit figures it out. This has the making of a nail-biter but I’ll slightly favor the Warriors since they will play at home. The points range can be 210-220 here. The exact score prediction is 111:107 in favor of the Warriors and I expect Heat to make it tough despite in a back-to-back situation.