Poole too hot for Heat as Warriors bounce back

The Warriors, missing injured star point guard Stephen Curry, had stumbled to three straight losses heading into Wednesday's road game in Florida, with a 94-90 reversal to Orlando on Tuesday the latest setback. Warriors coach Steve Kerr responded by opting to rest Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, and the gamble paid off as an unfamiliar-looking lineup delivered in style at Miami's FTX Arena. Poole had nine assists alongside his 30-point performance, while Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga and Damion Lee each finished with 22 points.

After pulling ahead by 19 points in the third quarter, the Warriors looked to be wobbling after Miami clawed their way back into the contest to lead early in the fourth period. But Poole, Wiggins and Kuminga combined for 23 points in a 37-point fourth quarter to see the Warriors home. Golden State improved to 48-25 for third place in the Western Conference while Miami fell to 47-25 at the top of the East, just 1.5 games ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks.

"Just our overall competitive fire and execution was better," Kerr said. "I thought our guys earned it. When you defend that well, the game gets a lot easier offensively." Kerr acknowledged the win was in sharp contrast to his team's struggles against lowly Orlando 24 hours earlier.

                   - Roller coaster -                                      "Sometimes the NBA doesn't make any sense," he said. "One thing I've learned is that these are the greatest players on earth. "There's 30 teams -- the bad teams have great players and the good teams have great players.

Everybody's human. "You go through ups and downs and it's a full 82-game season. That's why it's important to just keep pushing ahead and not succumb to the noise and the