OAKLAND -- Before the Warriors' attempt at a comeback fell short in a 111-110 loss to Miami after a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from LeBron James, Coach Mark Jackson said the outcome Wednesday night wouldn't change his outlook on his team as it went into the All-Star break.
Jackson went on to express pride after seeing Golden State erase a 21-point Miami lead and go into the Heat's final possession with the lead. But then James stole the show with a game-winning, fadeaway 27-footer over Andre Iguodala with two-tenths of a second left to finish with 36 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists on a wild night at Oracle Arena.
Stephen Curry finished with 29 points and nearly had the game-winner himself after driving past Mario Chalmers for a layup while getting fouled and completing the 3-point play with 14.6 seconds left to give the Warriors a 110-108 lead. The Warriors still got beat by reigning NBA Most Valuable Player James, who finished 14 of 26 from the field.
"At the end of the day, we witnessed greatness," Jackson said.
Iguodala said he would have changed nothing about the way he guarded James, who handed Golden State a loss despite the Warriors shooting 59 percent in the second half.
"If we play at the level we did tonight the way we competed and battled, we are going to look forward to an exciting second half of the season," Jackson said. "It will be important to make sure that we come back with this mentality."
Earlier in the evening, Jackson said he really liked the team's direction and was "united" with the ownership and front office in those thoughts while spending time before the game addressing comments from Joe Lacob on Tuesday to BANG Sports columnist Tim Kawakami, who had asked the Warriors co-owner to evaluate the coaching staff.
"I do think our coach has done a good job -- we have had some big wins, a lot of wins on the road, and that's usually a sign of good coaching," Lacob said. "But some things are a little disturbing -- the lack of being up for some of these games at home, that's a concern to me."
The Warriors are 31-22, which marks their best wins mark at the All-Star break since 2008, but they are also 4-6 in their past 10 home games after falling to two-time defending NBA champion Miami, which played for a second straight night without injured All-Star Dwyane Wade (foot).
Curry didn't make a field goal until hitting a