Despite missing one of their cornerstone players in Draymond Green, the Golden State Warriors impressively defeat the Miami Heat 120-112 in overtime.

Almost nothing about this contest looked like the regular Stephen Curry performances we have been accustomed to as he shot only 32% from the field and a depressing 5-20 from three… but in spectacular fashion, he sunk a backbreaking step back three-point dagger to decide the game and tallied 25 points on the night.

Although Curry had a rough shooting night, the big story of the game was the spectacular bench production from Kent Bazemore. Bazemore led the Warriors with a season-high 26 points that included heroic late game buckets to take the game to overtime.

Along with Bazemore’s big play, Kelly Oubre and Andrew Wiggins played superb and had identical stats with 23 points and 8 rebounds.

Although, the night started off in the wrong direction, as moments before the Wednesday night showdown, Draymond Green was ruled out due to ankle soreness. A Warriors team that was already lacking size with all of their centers out due to injury, sadly got even smaller.

The impact of not having the defensive playmaker in Draymond Green quickly showed in the first quarter. Curry's shooting struggles on the night began as he only scored 5 points and went 1-7 shooting from three. Noticing their huge size advantage, Miami bullied their way into the paint and shot an efficient 59% from the field. Both the offense and defense looked easy from Miami to attack as they jumped out to a 36-24 lead by the end of the quarter.

The second quarter showed much of the same as Miami continued to build off their momentum. Golden State’s second unit tried to inch closer by going on a mini run and putting Miami above the foul limit with 7 minutes still left in the quarter, but Miami was still able to shoot and defend at the same rate. Additionally, Curry’s shooting woes continued which did not help at all as Miami extended their lead to 61-46.

Despite an ugly first half, positive signs started to show at the beginning of the third period as the Warriors went on a 13-3 run cutting the Heat’s lead to only 5. The run included 7 points from Curry, and a three-pointer each from Oubre and Wiggins.

Wistfully, the Warriors cooled off and Miami went on a run of their own that ended the quarter with Miami leading by 10.

With Steph Curry out in the beginning of the fourth quarter per usual, the game looked like it was getting out of hand as the deficit extended to 15 points. In spite of this hole that the Warriors were in, they did not give up, they kept fighting. After former Warrior Andre Iguodala knocked down a three-pointer in front of Steph Golden State went on a 20-6 run to take this game into overtime.

During this stretch, Eric Paschall played tough and physical defense while also making difficult shots. Also, the Warriors’ hero, Kent Bazemore, had 7 points including his acrobatic layup to take the game into overtime.

At the start of the overtime period, both squads looked to be battling fatigue as neither team scored until Jimmy Butler scored at the 2:28 mark. Nevertheless, Bazemore had something to say as he scored two straight layups giving the Warriors their first lead of the game 109-107 with 1:38 left.

The Heat made an effort to take the lead back but momentum finally turned towards the Warriors’ favor. In the last minute, Curry and Wiggins hit two clutch three-pointers to give a 6 point cushion for the Golden State. Miami would then call a timeout to draw up a play that would eventually lead to a Duncan Robinson wing three-pointer to cut the lead to 3.

Then on the next play, with 32 seconds on the clock, Stephen Curry proceeded to dribble the ball out to get as much time off the clock. As time went down, with no memory of going 4-19 from three prior to this possession, Curry stunned the Heat with a step-back three-pointer that evidently decided the game.

This win puts the Warriors at 16-13 and boosts them to the 7th seed of the western conference, the highest of this season thus far.