Warriors outlast Heat in 107-95 win

OAKLAND - Stephen Curry had 24 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, Kevin Durant added 28 points and the Golden State Warriors picked it up late to beat the Miami Heat 107-95 on Tuesday night in another victory while hardly at their best.

Durant also had eight rebounds and Draymond Green had 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the Warriors' fifth consecutive win against the Heat and eighth in 10, including three in a row at home.

Klay Thompson had the night off for rest after he played through illness the past two games. Coach Steve Kerr said he was worn down.

Hassan Whiteside had 28 points and 20 rebounds for the Heat, who were outscored 26-14 in the third quarter after leading 54-53 at halftime.

Rookie Patrick McCaw made his first career start in Thompson's place and contributed a key 3-pointer in the third that put the Warriors ahead 67-60.

While they finished with 28 assists, that zippy passing game the Warriors have with Thompson on the court wasn't quite as crisp - though one pretty sequence of several quick touches led to Ian Clark's key 3 on a pass from Andre Iguodala with 5:44 to go. Iguodala later dished to Clark again for a layup.

Curry hit just 4 of 11 3-pointers as the Warriors shot 11 for 27 from beyond the arc and 45.3 percent overall. The two-time reigning NBA MVP fell short of a fourth consecutive game with 30 or more points.

Golden State, which played its lone road game in 10 on Sunday with a bus trip to nearby Sacramento, again struggled to find an offensive flow while missing everything from layups to open 3s during stretches.

Miami lost its third game in a row and dropped to 1-4 on this five-game road trip as coach Erik Spoelstra works to help his team find “our identity on both ends of the court and doing it more consistently.”

Whiteside's alley-oop dunk with 7:15 remaining pulled the Heat within 85-80 and forced a Warriors timeout. Tyler Johnson scored to make it a three-point game before the Warriors closed it out in their typical, impressive fashion.

Luke Babbitt returned for Miami after sitting out Sunday with an illness, but he was limited in 18 minutes.

Zaza Pachulia had scored in double figures in four consecutive games for the Warriors but had eight points, six rebounds and three assists.

QUOTABLE

Kerr was asked about visiting the White House with Donald Trump as president if the Warriors were to win a championship.

“I certainly hope that we have to have that decision to make next year,” he said. “I'll move on to the next question.”

TIP-INS

Heat: Whiteside has eight or more rebounds in a career-high and franchise-best 50 games in a row. ... The Heat have held opponents below 50 percent from the field in 33 of 40 games. ... Udonis Haslem was available but didn't play while dealing with a chest cold.

Warriors: Clark notched his eighth game scoring in double figures. ... Golden State outscored Miami 21-9 on fast-break points in the first half. ... Since 2014-15, Golden State is 33-2 at home against the Eastern Conference and 5-0 this season. Chicago and Boston are the lone East teams to win at Oracle Arena.

UP NEXT

Warriors: Host Detroit on Thursday night for the middle game of a three-game home stretch vs. Eastern Conference opponents, including Monday's matchup against LeBron James and the champion Cavaliers.