Kings Big Loss to Heat Shows Us More of the Same

The Sacramento Kings fall to the Miami Heat 130-117 as they drop their second straight game.

Jan 20, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; Miami Heat forward Simone Fontecchio (0) reacts after scoring against the Sacramento Kings during the third quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

The Sacramento Kings were riding high with a four-game winning streak, especially given that it was over three playoff teams, but they continued their crash back down to reality to remind everyone that this team isn't very good.

Yes, they were playing great basketball for a prolonged stretch of time with the winning streak, but tonight in the 130-117 loss to the Heat, they looked outmatched on both sides of the ball. The score makes it look closer than it actually was, but it never felt like the Kings were in this game.

Part of that was the turnovers by the Kings, which is exactly what sank them in the previous loss against the Portland Trail Blazers. They finished the night with 15 turnovers that led to 19 points off turnovers, which doesn't stand out as a huge number, but it was the first quarter turnovers that truly took the Kings out of the game.

Miami On Fire From Three

Even if it weren't for the turnovers, Sacramento got absolutely torched from the three-point line. Not only did the Heat shoot 21-of-42 (50%) from three, but the Kings shot just 11-of-30 (36.7%). It's the combination of both volume and efficiency that we've seen Sacramento struggle with throughout the season.

Coming into the game, they were making just 10.6 threes per game on 30.0 attempts, both of which are last in the league. And that's exactly what we saw tonight, to a four tenths of a percentage of a difference. It's just hard for the Kings to keep up with those types of numbers on a nightly basis.

And it wasn't just shooting luck tonight. The Heat generated open look after open look while the Kings relied on isolation scoring more times than not. They finished with 27 assists, but on 44 field goals. The halfcourt offense, especially, continues to look murky at times, which was even more evident tonight as they struggled to get stops and get out in transition.

Minutes Are All Over the Place

Jan 20, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Zach LaVine (8) looks on against the Miami Heat during the third quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

The other key takeaway from this game is that the Kings rotations are absolutely all over the place. That's to be expected as Domantas Sabonis works his way back from injury, but it was an odd night of rotations once again from Doug Christie.

Sabonis came off the bench for the third straight game, and only played 16:59 minutes. Zach LaVine got the start as normal, but played 22:14 minutes. He was a hyper-efficient 7-of-10 from the field, but exited mid-way through the third quarter and didn't come back in until the last few minutes when the game was all but over.

All ten players who got onto the court played at least 16:59 minutes, with many in the 19-22 minute range. Almost everyone on the roster is involved in some sort of trade rumor, which can't be helping the team on the court, but roles and rotations appear to be in flux from the outside looking in.

DeRozan Continues to Impress

The final takeaway that we've seen over and over this season was the performance of DeMar DeRozan, who had a team-high 23 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds on 6-of-12 from the field and a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line.

He looked more frustrated than we've seen so far this season, but he put his head down and went to work to help keep the game within striking distance. The Heat were connected to the six-time All-Star in the offseason, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see the two teams connected again as the trade deadline approaches.