[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="216" caption="Monta Ellis vinyl by J. Chen"]
[/caption]
[/caption]
- The buckets brigade known as Monta Ellis is currently the 3rd leading scorer in the NBA averaging 25.4 PPG, a few notches under leader Kevin Durant and Amar’e Stoudamire. Ellis was held to 20 points on 8-of-18 shooting last time the teams met. Steph Curry missed the first match with an injury and could be the game changer with his ability to space the floor.
- The Golden State Warriors are coming off a 1-point victory against the Charlotte Bobcats. They’ve won 4 of their last 5 games.
- Ex-Heat Dorell Wright talked to Lang Green from Hoopsworld. On helping him transition to a more defensive minded Warriors: "(My) first few years with Stan and Pat and not being able to get on the floor until I learned the right techniques on defense and learning how to play (good) defense before I got on the court is all just helping me now."
- So far, the outcome of games against poor defensive squads with firepower and speed as their forte has been quite predictable. Neutralize the opponent with stifling coverage and pierce their cozy defense with relentless drive and kick-outs from Wade and LeBron. Unless the Warriors shoot their brains out, provide average defense and the Heat have remnants of volatile New Year celebrations, a Warriors win is a tall order to handle.
- From the other side: Warriorsworld
| Home | Away | ||
| Miami | Golden State | ||
| Heat | Warriors | ||
| 25-9 | Record | 13-19 | |
| (5th of 30) 111.1 | Off Rtg | 106.4 (16th of 30) | |
| (3rd of 30) 100.7 | Def Rtg | 110.0 (28th of 30) | |
| (20th of 30) 90.9 | Pace | 95.1 (5th of 30) | |
| Likely Starters | |||
| Carlos Arroyo | PG | Monta Ellis | |
| Dwyane Wade | SG | Steph Curry | |
| Lebron James | SF | Dorell Wright | |
| Chris Bosh | PF | Vladimir Radmanovic | |
| Zydrunas Ilgauskas | C | David Lee | |
| James Jones | 6th | Reggie Williams | |
| Matchup Series 1-0 | |||
| American Airlines Arena | |||
| 7:30 PM EST | |||
| Sun Sports / 790 AM | |||
| Injury Report: | |||
| Heat: U. Haslem (out indefinitely) | |||
| Warriors: Wright (out indefinitely), Gadzuric (d2d), Biedrins (d2d) | |||