Takeaways from Warriors' Loss to Heat: Why Kerr Could Change Starting Lineup

Without their three best players, the Golden State Warriors (9-8) couldn't muster enough offense in a 110-96 loss to the Miami Heat (9-6).

The Warriors actually had the lead at the end of three quarters, but the Heat used a dominant fourth quarter to pull away. Pat Spencer had one of his best games as a pro, totaling 11 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds, but ultimately nobody could stop Norman Powell, who had 22 of his 25 points in the second half.

Here are three takeaways from a game the Warriors played without Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga and Al Horford.

Richard's Scoreless Game Gives Kerr Tough Lineup Decision

Will Richard had been a revelation going into Wednesday. He had shot at least 50 percent in 13 of his 14 games. The one "bad" game was a 4-of-9 showing against the Pelicans.

But against the Heat, Richard went scoreless, missing all three shots he took and posting a game-worst minus-25 rating.

Steve Kerr will have a tough decision for Friday's NBA Cup game against the Portland Trail Blazers. The Curry-Richard-Moody-Butler-Green lineup has a plus-13.5 net rating, per Cleaning the Glass, but it lost its minutes against the Magic, and now Richard is coming off his worst game as a pro.

Meanwhile, the Curry-Podz-Moody-Butler-Green quartet was arguably Golden State's best lineup last year, posting a plus-17.9 net rating in 459 possessions. It has played just 23 possessions this season, but it has once again been lethal with a plus-17.2 net rating.

Podziemski didn't play his best game either, but he did score 20 points (6-of-19 shooting), and his rebounding and passing fit well with the four other starters last year.

We'll see if Kerr keeps Richard in the first five or if he goes to Podz.

Post Rediscovers Scoring Touch

In his last five games, Quinten Post's point totals were as follows: six, zero, three, four, two. Overall, he was 5-of-17 in that stretch and 4-of-15 from three.

He broke out of that slump Wednesday with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting and 3-of-7 from three.

Post's defense has been much better this season, which is a big reason he has one of the best net ratings on the team despite his recent shooting slump.

He finished a plus-five in 26 minutes.

Expect Kerr to get him more run on the homestand. The Warriors need his shooting to space out lineups with Butler, Green and/or Kuminga.

Hield Misses Golden Opportunity to Get on Track

It's been a tough start to the season for Buddy Hield. It's so been so tough that I broke down whether he should lose his rotation spot with a column before the game.

Against the Heat, Hield was bound to get more playing time and shot attempts than he'd had all year. This was his chance to get on track.

Hield did play a season-high 31 minutes, but he didn't get on track. He went 7-of-20 from the floor, 4-of-15 from three, and perhaps most alarmingly, he had four turnovers.

His defense continues to be a sore spot. Just watch the effort–or lack thereof—at the 10:08 mark of this video. Powell won't get many easier and-1s this season.

As I noted in the column, most of the Warriors' bench players are struggling, so it's not obvious what Kerr should with the back end of the rotation.

But if Hield was already on thin ice, the ice just got thinner.