Warriors beat Heat on Green's last-second shot

MIAMI - If Jarrett Jack and the Golden State Warriors have their way, pretty soon even a dramatic, last-second win over the defending NBA champions won't be cause for too much celebration.

It will be expected.

Jack had the game-winning assist to rookie Draymond Green Wednesday night as the Warriors beat the Miami Heat, 97-95.

On the winning shot, Jack, guarded by LeBron James at the top of the key, passed to Green, who was wide open and hit a layup with 0.9 of a second left.

James missed a turnaround jumper at the buzzer to complete the Warriors' win.

James finished with a game-high 31 points for the Heat (14-6).

"Don't get me wrong," said Jack, a point guard who came off the bench to score 20 points. "We know the Heat is a high-caliber team. But we're a whole 'nother ball club that people haven't seen.

"One thing I try to tell my guys is that we kind of celebrated a lot after that basket (by Green). I said, 'Man, we didn't do much. This is just one game. We have to become one of those teams that we feel that we belong amongst the elite. Don't be surprised by the things we're doing on this nice journey.'"

Jack, who made 9 of 14 shots, was certainly hot enough to take the final shot - and he nearly did.

The Warriors were running shooters Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson off of screens and also had the dangerous David Lee available. The last option was Green.

"Stephen and Klay attract attention," Jack said. "We put (the Heat) in a situation where they had to make a decision. They helped too hard on Klay, and Draymond was able to slip the screen. That is something we talked about all week.

"I was about to shoot it. I had gotten on a roll in the second half. I told myself that if (James) gave me a little bit of daylight, I was going to take my shot. But right as I was about to shoot it - you can see I was about to jump - out of the corner of my eye I saw Draymond."

The win qualifies the Warriors (15-7) for consideration as the NBA's hottest team, given that their five-game win streak has been accomplished exclusively on the road. Overall, the Warriors have won eight of their past nine games.

Thompson, who led the Warriors with 27 points, has ties to Miami. He is the son of former NBA forward Mychal Thompson, who played his high school ball at Miami Jackson.

The Heat lost for just the second time this season at home, where they have 10 wins.

They did not score in the last three minutes of the game, missing their final five shots and also turning the ball over twice.

In the final minute, with the score tied, Ray Allen and Shane Battier missed three-point tries.

"I didn't have a problem with those shots," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Ray had a clean look. Shane had a clean look.

"You have to give Golden State credit for the road trip they are on right now."

Perhaps the best news on an otherwise bad night for the Heat was that they survived two injury scares in the second quarter.

First, James drove to the basket and was shoved while in the air by Lee. James landed hard on his right shoulder, and Lee was issued a flagrant foul.

James, who appeared to be angry at Lee's play, made both free throws and a layup to complete what was, in essence, a four-point play.

"It will be sore tomorrow," James said. "But I'll be ready Saturday (for the Heat's next game). That's all that matters."

Less than two minutes after James got hurt, Dwyane Wade took a double shot to his head and neck while chasing Thompson around a couple of picks. Thompson, trying to get free, caught Wade with a right elbow. Then, with Wade doubled over in pain, teammate Mario Chalmers collided with him while running hard on defense.

Wade sat out the final 3:17 of the half with what was diagnosed as a neck strain. However, Wade started the second half and finished with 14 points in 29 minutes.

"Right now, it's fine," Wade said. "Hopefully, it doesn't stiffen up on me tonight."

Thompson said the play was an accident and wished Wade the best.

Asked about the win, Thompson said it gives his team confidence.

"We're going to celebrate tonight," Thompson said. "But you can't just say we've arrived."

NOTES: Curry was held to nine points and had a game-high six turnovers. He had entered Wednesday with a career-best eight straight games of 20 or more points. . . . Allen, who had 14 points, passed Adrian Dantley for 22nd place in the NBA's career scoring list . . .There were a lot of superlatives tossed around before the game. Warriors coach Mark Jackson said Wade is the third best shooting guard in NBA history behind Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Spoelstra, in reference to Curry and Thompson, said Golden State has "the best-shooting backcourt in the league." . . Up next, the Warriors play at Orlando on Friday and at Atlanta on Saturday before returning home to play New Orleans on Tuesday. . . . The Heat's six-game home stand ends with games Saturday against Washington and Tuesday vs. Minnesota.