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Basketball Aggregated: Yahoo Sports NBA
5 min read • 5 Nov 2026

What we learned as Steph Curry catches fire in second half as Warriors burn Heat

By: Top Tipper
Aggregated news from Yahoo Sports NBA Read Original Source ↗

What we learned as Steph Curry catches fire in second half as Warriors burn Heat originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO – The team that had two days of rest looked much more like a team that played into overtime the night before in the early portions of the Warriors’ game against the Miami Heat on Thursday night at Chase Center. 

Slowly but surely, the Warriors found a second wind that wasn’t available to the Heat, beating them 120-100. Their first lead of the game came from a Steph Curry layup at the 1:38 mark of the second quarter. 

They outscored the Heat by 15 points in the third quarter and maintained the lead in the fourth quarter for a sixth straight win. 

Curry continued his reign, scoring a game-high 29 points, with 22 coming after halftime. His running mate, Draymond Green, did a fantastic job defensively and engineering the Warriors’ offense. 

Former Warriors Klay Thompson (11 points) and Andrew Wiggins (two) combined for 13 points. 

Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ win to keep rolling.

Splash Brother Showdown

They shot on opposite sides of the court at the same time during their pregame routines and caught up for a moment together at half-court. The moment was just the start to what would be a long night for former longtime teammates Curry and Thompson. As the Heat won the opening tip, Curry went right to Thompson for his defensive matchup. 

That was the area Thompson made an immediate impact, too. He played so well on Brandin Podziemski that Steve Kerr had to make a change faster than usual. Thompson even swatted Curry at the rim in the first quarter after getting beat by him on a back cut. 

Neither got it going offensively in the first half. Curry scored just seven points on a lowly 2-of-10 shooting, and a three late in the second quarter were Thompson’s only points. Curry splashed a three within the first minute of the third quarter, but also fouled Thompson on a three the next time down.

But the third quarter has been all Curry’s this season, and he continued his tear against his former Splash Brother. Curry scored 14 points and made three 3-pointers in the quarter to help the Warriors secure a 15-point lead going into the fourth. 

Curry now is shooting 61.9 percent from three in the third quarter (13 of 21). He added another eight points in the fourth quarter to fall one point shy of his fourth straight 30-point game.

Draymond’s Response 

When Green came apart last game and was ejected against the Suns, the Warriors came together to complete a comeback win. There were many more storylines outside of Green going into the game, but he was sure to get up for a game matching up against Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co. 

Green dared Antetokounmpo to shoot from deep and was active around the rim, whether it was with the former Milwaukee Bucks superstar, his former Warriors teammate Andrew Wiggins or anybody else. His level of focus was night-and-day different from Monday night. 

This was a game where you had to watch closely to understand Green’s impact. Look beyond the box score with him. But some numbers certainly stick out, too. 

Antetokounmpo scored 20 points but was a minus-22. Green’s plus-13 was second among Warriors starters, behind just Curry, and his 11 assists were five more than his next closest teammate. The Warriors had a 96.2 defensive rating, and Green is the main reason why.

Uncle Al 

Sure, Bam Adebayo put him on roller skates in the second quarter, but Al Horford got him back in the third quarter and ultimately had the final laugh in another Warriors win. 

And, that wasn’t even Horford’s best highlight from the game. Or the quarter, for that matter. 

Horford, 40, flew in for a two-handed reverse tip-in layup that made him look closer to his jersey number (20) than his age. 

The 20-year vet has scored more points this season than he did Thursday night. He’s grabbed more rebounds and made more threes. But in his strategic minutes, he hasn’t meant as much to the Warriors as he did against the Heat, finishing as a game-high plus-21 in a game when he was a perfect 3 of 3 from the field and 2 of 2 from deep.

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