New low: Kings lose to Miami

MIAMI – There was some question before Tuesday's game whether Ron Artest would be ready to play that night, as the Kings small forward had missed the shootaround that morning with what was deemed stomach issues and a headache.

Yet by the time tipoff against Miami neared, his condition became clear when Artest danced his way out of the tunnel on his way to warm up.

With the Tina Turner song "Proud Mary" blaring through the speakers, he spun, smiled, and even busted a few moves as if he were at a South Beach club while leaving his teammates and anyone nearby chuckling.

"I do it all, baby," Artest said near the end of his act. "Offense, defense, dancing."

Three hours later, the only dance of note was the one the Heat did on the Kings' collective grave.

The Kings left AmericanAirlines Arena on Tuesday night like castoff contestants from the television show "So You Think You Can Dance?" – their halfhearted jig sent to the cutting-room floor in a 107-86 loss that was a serious setback for a team that continues to talk about playoff pushes.

As it were, the only postgame dancing was from the hip-shaking Heat dancers, who had been so often held back from these kinds of performances. Their team had lost 26 of its previous 27 games and had two wins since just before Christmas, and that just didn't leave much reason for celebratory samba.

"They lost 26 out of 27?" said Artest, who was far from his defensive self on one end while hitting just 3 of 14 shots for 14 points on the other. "They lost 26 games out of 27 games? … Wow. Wow."

Kings coach Reggie Theus didn't bother to tap dance around the significance of the loss.

"That probably is about the worst we've played all year," Theus said. "If you have a chance, mathematically, to still be in the playoffs, then you've got to come out with a sense or urgency. You've got to have slobber in your mouth.

"It's about trying to win, trying to get to .500, trying to get to the playoffs. But tonight was a really poor effort. I get mad about a lot of things, but I just can't deal with lack of effort."

And because there wasn't much offense or defense for the Kings, the Heat won for the first time in the eight games since Shaquille O'Neal was traded to Phoenix.

Former Suns forward Shawn Marion had his best game since joining Dwyane Wade on this sinking ship, scoring 13 of his 24 points in a third quarter that Wade deemed his team's "best in two years."

Miami – which led 58-52 at halftime – shimmied its way to a 31-11 period that stretched its lead to 89-63 and awoke a crowd that had been slumbering for months.

The Kings were 2 of 20 from the field in the period, missing all six of their three-pointers (they went 2 of 17 for the game) while only Spencer Hawes and Quincy Douby hit shots. Neither Artest nor anyone else could do much to stop Marion, who ran the floor for alley-oops and put on a high-flying act that left Artest calling him an All-Star.

Kings forward Mikki Moore wondered aloud whether the allure of the Miami nightlife from the previous two nights had any impact on the lack of energy.

"I don't know what other guys did last night, but I think we just came out slow tonight," Moore said. "It worries me because every time we get close to .500, we always give up games that we're not supposed to lose."

Nearly four months into the season, the Heat had its 10th win.

"We have been waiting a long time to play like this," Wade said. "The third quarter really put us over the edge."

In truth, it was the Kings going over the cliff.

"We just had a complete meltdown on all places of the court," said Kings shooting guard Kevin Martin, who had 14 points. "Defense, offense. That usually turns into a massacre. And that's what happened tonight."

About the writer:

• Read Sam Amick's Kings blog at www.sacbee.com/blogs.