Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant celebrates after hitting a three-point basket against the Denver Nuggets during the third quarter of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017, in Denver. (Photo by Jack Dempsey)

by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland — The Warriors won their seventh game in their last eight starts. It was not easy or pretty, but they still prevailed over the Miami Heat, 97-80. The Heat, coached by Erik Spoelstra, played tough defense and did their best to keep the Warriors from running the court. The Heat loves to play a grind-it-out style of play similar to the one used by the Memphis Grizzlies. They do not run the fast break. They use up as much of the 34-second clock as possible before taking a shot and make the opposition work hard to take a three-point shot.

The Warriors were hoping to get off to a fast start in the first quarter. Miami had other ideas as neither team to get any offense going. The defense was a strong suit for both clubs as the game was tied at 15 late in the quarter. Miami went on a 6-0 run to take a 21-15 lead, but the Warriors came back to finish the first 12 minutes of play with a 7-0 run and ended with the lead 22-21. Miami continued to use the clock and brought the game to a crawl The Dubs led 36-34 with 3:17 left in the first half. It was at this point that the Warriors put it together and went on a 14-2 run to take a 50-37 advantage at the end of the first half. Kevin Durant and Draymond Green led the Warriors in scoring with 14 for KD and 13 for Green. The Heat held Steph Curry to four and Klay Thompson to seven.  Goran Dragovic and James Johnson each had 10 for Miami.

The second half was more of the same. The Heat continued to slow the game down, but the Warriors were able to meet the challenge. They increased the lead to 60-40. Curry and Thompson each knocked down a three-point shot and the Warriors were able to finish the third quarter with an 18-point lead, 75-57.  The Heat went on a 9-2 run to begin the fourth quarter as they reduced the lead to 12. Durant and Curry took over, and the Warrior defense held the Heat offense at bay as they won 97-80

Game notes and stats — Steve Kerr gave David West the night off, and Jordan Bell and Kevon Looney took up the slack and played very well, especially on defense. Green had this to say about the Heat: “They’re gonna drive, they’re gonna hold. It wasn’t pretty. We couldn’t make shots.” Steve Kerr said this: ” I thought it was our best defensive effort of the year…We made really good decisions out there. I liked the way we stayed with it against a good team…It was a grind out game.” The Warriors were very good, indeed, on defense. They outrebounded the Heat, 51-44. They had 12 steals and 19 blocks.  The Warriors’ offense recorded just 20 assists as the Heat really smothered the Warriors’ offense for most of the game.

Leading scorers for the Warriors were Durant with 21. Green knocked down 18. Curry had 16 and Thompson finished with 13. On defense, Durant And Kevon Looney each blocked three shots and Thompson had two. Dragovic tallied 19 for Miami and James Johnson, coming off the bench, poured in 21. The only other Heat player in double figures was Kelly Olynyk with 10.

The Warriors improve to 8-3, and the Heat drops to 4-6.

The Warriors meet the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night at Oracle Arena. Game time is at 7:30 pm.