Another chapter in the rivalry between Draymond Green and Giannis Antetokounmpo is scheduled to be written Thursday night when the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat duel in San Francisco.
After playing two back-to-backs in their first eight games, the Warriors will enjoy a scheduling break when they face a Heat team playing for the second straight night on the road and for the third time on a five-game Western swing.
Antetokounmpo put in 41 minutes in Wednesday’s 117-116 road overtime win over the Los Angeles Clippers. He contributed 27 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, two steals and three blocks to the extra-time win.
The Heat will have to contend with more than an overtime game and an early-morning flight. They also will have to deal with the second night of a back-to-back for the second time this season.
The 31-year-old Antetokounmpo, who has seen action in all eight Miami games this season, was limited to 25 minutes on the second night when the Heat lost 115-110 at Charlotte on Oct. 24.
A potential candidate for rest, Antetokounmpo might not complain about missing a head-to-head with the defensive-minded Green, who has had the Greek star’s number more times than not during his matchups with the Milwaukee Bucks over the past 12 seasons.
The forwards have gone head-to-head 14 times, with Green’s Warriors winning on 10 of the occasions.
Antetokounmpo outscored his rival in 10 of the 14 games and outrebounded him eight times, but did so at far below his usual rate. He’s averaged just 20.8 points (3.3 points below his career average) and 7.7 rebounds (2.2 below his career average) in those games, shooting 48.4% (7.0% below his career average).
Green is coming off his 23rd regular-season ejection after throwing Phoenix Suns center Khaman Maluach to the floor and then scuffling with Dillon Brooks on Monday night, getting a technical foul for each.
Warriors guards Stephen Curry and Brandin Podziemski both credited the ejection, which occurred with Golden State trailing 68-57 two minutes into the third quarter, with igniting a comeback. The Warriors wound up winning the game 116-113 for a fifth consecutive victory.
“I loved it. It fueled our team,” Podziemski insisted to reporters afterward. “We didn’t have that edge to start the game. Then that kind of changed the game for us. Everybody locked in a little bit more and came together for Dray. I think it was needed. Maybe he sensed it, maybe he didn’t, but it helped us.”
The Heat could find themselves in serious load-management mode in San Francisco after having to work overtime in Wednesday’s win over the Clippers. Among the players potentially impacted could be the game’s star, Klay Thompson, whose 3-pointer with one second left in the extra session determined the winner.
A four-time champion with Golden State, Thompson has had four previous homecomings since being dealt to Dallas in July of 2024. Those came with the Mavericks.
Now in the Eastern Conference, he gets only one return a season, which is in jeopardy after the 36-year-old was called upon to play 35 minutes in Los Angeles, finishing with 30 points.
He’s admitted in the past how much he looks forward to playing against the Warriors.
“I made a lot of buckets in that building,” he recalled to the media as a Maverick. “It’s fun to beat up on old friends.”
