The Golden State Warriors will travel to Miami to face the defending champion Miami Heat in an NBA game that will be live streaming online free from MIami's American Airlines Arena Thursday, at 7:30 PM ET.
Golden State is the NBA's hottest club, having won six games in a row. They are firing on all cylinders, offensively and coach Mark Jackson has them playing shut-down defense.
Following a four-game western road trip, LeBron James and the Heat return home Thursday night but are unsure of Dwyane Wade's status.
James missed a game on the trip before returning for Monday's 97-74 win at Denver, but Wade left because of back spasms and played only 18 minutes.
"He's just sore," coach Eric Spoelstra said. "His back tightened up, he was in (the locker room) with the thought it would loosen up and he could get back out there, but he just didn't."
Wade's status for the game against the Warriors is unknown. The same goes for reserve guard Norris Cole, who also left Monday's game after hitting his face on the floor at the end of a driving layup attempt.
Even with those injury problems Monday, James led the Heat to their eighth win in nine games as he had 26 points and 10 assists with a season-high five 3-pointers. He sat out a win in Portland two nights earlier because of a groin injury.
"I took nine 3s and all of them felt good," the four-time league MVP said. "The groin wasn't an issue at all."
The Heat (24-7) have won five consecutive home games, averaging 114.2 points, and are 14-2 in Miami, but Golden State heads there feeling very confident.
The Warriors (20-13) seek their longest winning streak since an eight-game run March 25-April 8, 2005. Plus, they're the only Western Conference team to win in Miami since the start of last season, winning 97-95 on Dec. 12, 2012, on Draymond Green's layup with 0.9 seconds left.
Golden State is coming off a 94-81 victory in Orlando on Tuesday night. David Lee led the Warriors with 22 points, but it was the team's defense that was the difference. The Magic shot 38.2 percent from the field despite Golden State's starters sitting out the entire fourth quarter.
Defense has keyed the Warriors' win streak, holding opponents to 89.7 points per game and 29.5 percent from 3-point range.
The game will be televised on the SUN Network and will also be live streamed via https://nbalivestreamfree.net/
