Kings Late Comeback Falls Short in 121-110 Loss to Heat
On the second leg of a back-to-back, the Sacramento Kings hosted the shorthanded Miami Heat, down seven players, including superstar wing Jimmy Butler. Due to an altercation in Miami's matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday, the Heat had three players sidelined for Monday's game in Sacramento with suspensions.
Since the Heat were without Butler, Tyler Herro, Terry Rozier, Nikola Jovic, Josh Richardson, Thomas Bryant, and more, many would assume the Kings would have an immediate depth advantage, but that did not seem to matter to Miami.
The Kings and Heat went back and forth throughout the first half, but the Heat kicked it into high gear in the third quarter, outscoring Sacramento 36-19. After taking a 20-point lead heading into the fourth, the hope in Golden 1 Center was fading until an unbelievable run, led by Keegan Murray and De'Aaron Fox, got the Kings within just two points with under four minutes remaining.
The impressive comeback fell short, though, as the Heat took back control in the last few minutes and came away with the 11-point win.
The shorthanded Miami squad was led by All-Star big man Bam Adebayo with 28 points and 10 rebounds, along with standout rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. with 26 points, shooting 12-17 from the field. Sharpshooter Duncan Robinson had a cold shooting night, making just one of his 11 attempts and going 0-6 from beyond the arc, but contributed as a playmaker with 11 assists.
The Kings were led by impressive sophomore Murray, with a team-high 28 points, shooting 6-7 from deep. Sacramento's star point guard Fox had a slow night until the fourth quarter, where he ramped up his scoring and finished with 27, but had a disastrous seven turnovers.
All-Star snub Domantas Sabonis notched his sixth triple-double in his last seven games, finishing with 14 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists. The big man is up to a league-high 21 triple-doubles on the season, taking sole possession of 13th all-time on the single-season triple-double list. With 25 games remaining, Sabonis has the opportunity to continue to make history.
Monday's home loss to the Heat will go down as another dreadful outcome that should have been different for Sacramento, as there have been far too many inexcusable losses this season. While the Kings' defense in the fourth quarter was some of the best they have played all year, they fell short and dropped back to 7th in the West.
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