Takeaways from Warriors' Win vs. Heat: Giannis Missing Steph-Like Running Mate

The Golden State Warriors (6-3) won their sixth straight game Thursday, beating the Miami Heat 120-100 at Chase Center.

Stephen Curry shook off a poor first half, scoring 22 of his 29 points in the second half.

Former Warriors Klay Thompson (11 points on 3-of-10 shooting) and Andrew Wiggins (2 points on 1-of-6 shooting) struggled for the Heat (3-6), who were outscored 38-23 in the third quarter.

Here are three takeaways from Thursday's game.

Giannis Missing Steph-Like Running Mate

The Heat are nine games into the Giannis Antetokounmpo era. They don't have everything figured out right now, which is understandable.

Eventually, they should be an above-average defensive team. But their offensive issues might not be solvable without a trade for a guard who can really score.

In fairness to Giannis and the Heat, they were playing the back end of a road back-to-back with a front end that went to overtime.

So part of their struggles Thursday were surely fatigue-based. But I believe they are having personnel issues as well.

Giannis is running a lot of two-man actions with Davion Mitchell or Thompson. With all due respect to Mitchell, he's just not the type of offensive threat who will get a team deep into the playoffs if relied on heavily. And though Thompson is an all-time great shooter, his ball-handling and passing aren't good enough for him to be one of the team's most important playmakers.

The spacing with Bam Adebayo and Giannis is clunky. You could probably get away with it if you had dynamic offensive players surrounding them. Not only are the Heat weak in that area, but they also don't have the assets to easily acquire dynamic offensive players.

In hindsight, Giannis should have taken more control over his trade destination and got himself somewhere else. The Warriors would have been a better bet—at least in the short term—because a two-man game with Steph and Giannis would have been unstoppable.

He also could have forced himself to Minnesota to play with Anthony Edwards or Boston to play with Jayson Tatum.

Now, he's stuck in a poor offensive environment.

Draymond Has Dominant Defensive Performance

Draymond Green had just two points, but his defense and passing were crucial to the Warriors' win.

Above all, he was the biggest reason the Dubs held Antetokounmpo to 20 points. The Warriors don't have anyone else who can contain him, so that alone made Green indispensable.

Green had value on offense as well, picking up 11 assists. Overall, he was a plus-13.

This was a solid bounce-back game after Green got ejected against the Suns on Monday. In the days after, there was a lot of chatter among fans and media about whether Green should come off the bench due to his negative offensive value.

Perhaps in some matchups that could make sense. But against a team with Giannis, it's a no-brainer to start Green to let his defense heavily impact the game.

Dunleavy's Late Free-Agency Decisions Continue to Look Great

The Warriors were essentially limited to veteran minimum contracts after they gave De'Anthony Melton the taxpayer mid-level exception this offseason, and on Thursday, the four players they got with those contracts delivered.

- Georges Niang: 13 points (5-of-8 shooting), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, plus-16
- Brandon Williams: 10 points (4-of-7 shooting), 4 assists, 2 blocks, plus-7
- Charles Bassey: 8 points (3-of-4 shooting), 7 rebounds, 3 blocks, plus-7
- Gary Payton II: 9 points (3-of-3 shooting), 1 steal, plus-5

Mike Dunleavy Jr. has faced criticism for the Warriors' lack of success since he took the job. Some of that is due to bad luck—Jimmy Butler's injury is the prime example—and some of it is warranted.

But he deserves praise for drafting Yaxel Lendeborg and making these great end-of-roster decisions.

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