The Miami Heat head to Chase Center on Thursday night looking to even things up early in the season against a Golden State Warriors team that’s already found its footing at 5-3. Tipoff is set for 10:00 p.m. EST in San Francisco.
Miami comes in at 3-5, while Golden State has opened the year with a 5-3 mark. This is the first of two regular-season meetings between the teams.
Last season, they split the series 1-1, with each club protecting home court. In the regular season overall, the Heat are 37-38 against the Warriors, including a 22-15 record at home and 15-23 on the road.
Golden State is also carrying over plenty from last season’s 37-45 finish, a year that left them as the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference before Phoenix knocked them out in the Play-In Tournament. The offseason brought a busy stretch for the Warriors, who drafted Yaxel Lendeborg with the 11th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft and added Brandon Williams and Georges Niang. They also brought back Draymond Green, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II, while extending Stephen Curry and Brandin Podziemski.
Both teams enter this one with recent momentum. Golden State is coming off a 116-113 win over the Phoenix Suns, while Miami just survived an overtime battle against the Los Angeles Clippers after Klay Thompson buried the game-winning three-pointer.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra also had praise for Thompson’s form, saying: “He’s getting his game legs. He’s been putting in a lot of time...
He’s fighting (Father Time), and he’s doing it. He’s putting in a ton of time on his body and getting in shape.
That’s allowing him to show the skillset that he’s had over his Hall of Fame career.”
Spoelstra added: “He’s been playing really well. Even defensively, he’s had some really good moments tonight...
He’s moving his feet a lot better. Certainly, I think, in the last two or three years.”
The game will be televised on WPLG Local 10 in South Florida, My 15 WTCN in West Palm Beach and NBC Sports Bay Area in San Francisco. Radio coverage will be available on 104.3 FM/560 AM and 710/1140 AM in South Florida, plus 95.7 FM in San Francisco.
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It was the kind of finish that still felt fresh even for a player with Thompsons championship background, and it gave Miami a needed boost in a game where the scoring load was spread thin. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Heat with 30 points, and only four Miami players reached double figures, which made Thompsons closing shot stand out even more as the decisive moment. [Read more 🡒]