SAN FRANCISCO, CA - NOVEMBER 5: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors handles the ball during the game while Klay Thompson #11 of the Miami Heat plays defense during the game on November 5, 2026 at Chase Center in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images Sean Keane · SB Nation Fri, November 6, 2026 at 7:54 AM UTC · 8 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It's hard to know what Steph Curry has been doing during halftime this season. Maybe he's snacking on popcorn. Maybe he's firing himself up by reading internet comments. Maybe Steph is getting pep talks over FaceTime from Natalie Nakase.
Regardless of what he's doing — meditation, yoga, writing letters complaining about affordable housing projects, watching highlights from Season 2 of "Holey Moley" — it's working. Curry shot 4-of-5 from the field, sank three three-pointers, and scored 14 points in the 3rd quarter as the Golden State Warriors outscored the Miami Heat 38-23. The game was tied at halftime, and the Dubs went on to win by 20, with a tidy final score of 120-100.
Curry is now averaging nearly 12 points in third quarters. He's shooting 62.2% from the field and 65% behind the arc and hasn't missed a third-quarter free throw all season. He finished Thursday's game with 29 points, four assists, and six more three-pointers, and has made at least five triples in each of his last four games.
The Warriors won their sixth straight game after starting the season 0-3. They took the victory Thursday night at the expense of two of their old teammates, Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson. Wiggins scored just two points, while Captain Klay had 11 points, though he did block two shots. The two former champions combined to shoot 4-for-16 from the field, while Thompson didn't look amused by his Splash Brother clowning around for a photo during the game.
It's tough for those guys, in part because the Heat's warmups for Thursday's game were black shirts with a red flames on the back. It feels like the team let Guy Fieri and the assistant manager of a Hot Topic have final say on the design. It simply doesn't look good for basketball players in their 30's to dress like they're part of a UFC fighter's entourage.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was a constant Warriors trade target before forcing his way to Miami this summer, where it's not going great. He's averaging 28.3 points and 12.5 rebounds but his team is 3-6. Antetokounmpo had 20 points and 14 rebounds in the loss, but most of that production happened in the first half. After halftime, the Greek Freak had four points and four rebounds and took only four shots, clearly frustrated by Draymond Green's defense.
Green scored two points but delivered 11 assists and finished +13 with a steal and a block. Anecdotally, Green's beard also looks darker, which could have been the NBC Sports Bay Area picture quality, but we think it's possible that Draymond is using BED's (Beard Enhancing Drugs).
During one sequence in the second quarter, Green and Curry took turns feeding rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, who filled up the box score with 17 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three steals, and a block.
Lendeborg was part of a high-effort rebounding performance by the Warriors, who grabbed 44 boards to Miami's 39, even with the massive Anteotkounmpo and Bam Adebayo (18 points, 10 rebounds) manning the middle. The bench made a big difference, collecting 24 boards while the Heat's reserves got seven. Standouts were Charles Bassey, De'Anthony Melton, and Al Horford, who had seven, six, and five rebounds respectively. Bassey and Horford each scored eight points and Horford was +21, making both his threes and has five in his last two games.
Bassey played 14 "loud minutes," according to Bob Fitzgerald, and it's hard to argue with that description. He simply does a lot of stuff, even if some of that is negative (five fouls, three turnovers, airballed a three). Bassey blocked three shots and appeared to make the Heat big men decidedly uncomfortable. His most impressive play came when he grabbed a free throw rebound while getting double teamed and fouled, and flipped in a shot anyway.
Once again, the Warriors started slow and fell behind by double-digits early, mainly because they started with ice-cold shooting. The young guys kept the team afloat as the veterans slowly loosened up, with Will Richard leading the team with 10 first-half points and Yaxel adding nine.
The Warriors bench shot 19-for-30, while their Heat counterparts were 8-for-27. Nikola Jovic's long-term deal already looks regrettable. Bobby Portis tried to fire up his team by going after Georges "The Minivan" Niang, and after Niang didn't back down, Portis didn't score for the rest of the game. Niang was 4-for-5 with 10 points after halftime.
Miami sacrificed a ton of their depth to land the Greek Freak, and as a result, only Pelle Larsson is truly reliable off the bench. They're leaning on guys on the downside of their careers, like Thompson and Tim Hardaway, Jr., along with guys taken off the NBA scrap heap, like center Nick Richards. And that could have been the Warriors!
It's never been clear how realistic the Warriors' reported pursuit of Antetokounmpo was at last year's deadline, and they appeared to be a non-factor in the summer's trade talks. The Milwaukee Bucks may not have seriously wanted anyone aside from Brandin Podziemski, and if they weren't going to take Jimmy Butler back, the only way Golden State could have landed Antetokounmpo was too gut their roster and fill in the gaps with, well, guys who didn't have a lot of other options.
They also wouldn't have Yaxel, who is already better than anyone on the Heat besides Bam and Giannis. The Curry Flurry was the engine behind the team's second-half surge, but the team made their game-defining 17-3 run in the quarter by playing defense best described as "really annoying" — something that the Heat used to specialize in. Richard, Melton, Podziemski, and Lendeborg all deflected passes and closed out on threes, causing a number of low-percentage shots late in the shot clock.
Big Al had an embarrassing play where Adebayo faked him out and hit a stepback jumper in the second quarter as Horford stumbled backwards. However, in the remaining 28 minutes following that play, Horford only scored one fewer point than the 83-point man.
The game could have become a true blowout were it not for Davion Mitchell going off in the final quarter, scoring 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting and proving beyond a doubt that there's no better NBA career move than leaving the Sacramento Kings.
Brandon Williams had another solid bench effort with 10 points, four assists, and two surprising blocks. He continued to get to the rim at will off the dribble, getting layups and drawing fouls. Williams' defense has been far better than advertised, and down the stretch, he iced the game by repeatedly finding his teammates for alley-oops.
Why does Williams need to seize this opportunity so badly? He's gotta pay rent in San Francisco.
Let's just say we wouldn't be shocked if Williams is really invested in NBA Cup games and the massive payouts that go to winners. If he can secure one of the six-figure playoff shares, maybe he won't have to get extra roommates from Craigslist.
The Warriors have two more games left on this extended homestand. They'll face the Orlando Magic, missing Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs, on Saturday, then the red-hot New Orleans Pelicans Monday, who will be on a back-to-back, to the Warriors' advantage. Also to the Warriors' advantage? They're the Pelicans.
Six wins in a row, with an excellent chance to stretch their winning streak to eight games before a brutal trip to the Texas Triangle next week. Imagine how good they could be if the first few minutes of the game didn't stink!
Source: Sports
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