The Golden State Warriors (48-4), the league’s top scoring team, will challenge the Miami Heat (29-24) at AmericanAirlines Arena. Action begins at 7:30 pm ET on Wednesday, Feb. 24 and can be seen on GS2 and SUN.
The Heat are expecting a better outcome after their 119-101 loss to the Spurs in their last matchup. Dwyane Wade was the team’s leading scorer with 20 points. The Warriors, meanwhile, are coming off a 112-104 win against the Suns in their last game. Stephen Curry was the game’s top scorer, accounting for 26 points on 9-for-17 shooting.
It’s a matchup of two different tempos, as the up-and-down Warriors (ranked third in the NBA in possessions per game) square off against the grind-it-out Heat (29th).
This is the second game of the season between these two teams, with the Warriors winning the first matchup 111-103. Draymond Green put up 22 points and 12 rebounds.
Notes
In games where they allow fewer than 100 points, the Miami Heat are a solid 24-10. In games where they fail to hit triple digits, the Golden State Warriors have a losing record of 1-3.
When allowing 100 or more points in a game, the Heat are just 5-14 this season. Golden State is an exceptional 47-1 when it reaches the century mark.
The Heat have an offensive rating of 102.3 (ranked 23rd). The Warriors rank second for their defensive rating of 99.9.
Golden State beats Miami in both possessions per game and points per possession. The Warriors average 101.8 possessions and 1.134 points per possession, while the Heat average 93.9 possessions with 1.023 points per possession.
The Golden State Warriors have one of the best effective field goal percentages this season, ranking first in the league with an EFF% of 56.4%. The Miami Heat have a winning 5-3 record in games where opponents have a similar or higher EFF%.
The Miami Heat rank 19th with an assist to turnover ratio of 1.50. The Golden State Warriors have a higher A/TO (1.94), ranking second.
With 46.9 per game, Golden State ranks near the top of the NBA for rebounds at third. Miami ranks 16th with 43.1.
The Golden State Warriors rank 18th in offensive rebounding, while the Miami Heat rank seventh in defensive rebounding.
On average, the Heat force a turnover rate of 13.1%. When the Warriors turn over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a formidable 31-1 record.
