Overtime thriller: Miami Heat hold on to beat Sacramento Kings 118-113
Kendrick Nunn drained a big 3-pointer and two clutch free throws to help the Miami Heat beat the Kings 118-113 in an overtime thriller Monday night at American Airlines Arena.
Nunn scored 23 points for the Heat (30-13), which has lost only one game at home this season. James Johnson added 22 points. Bam Adebayo had 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Nemanja Bjelica scored 22 points to lead the Kings (15-28), who have lost five in a row. Buddy Hield had 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Marvin Bagley posted 15 points and a season-high 15 rebounds.
The first half featured seven ties and seven lead changes. The Kings led by as many as six. The Heat led by as many as five.
The Kings led 24-21 at the end of the first period. They took a 50-44 lead on a three-point play by Bjelica with 4:27 to play in the second quarter and carried a 58-56 lead into the locker room at the halftime break.
The teams exchanged leads six times in the third quarter. Miami went up 64-62 on a 3-pointer by Duncan Robinson. The Kings went up 78-76 on two free throws by Harrison Barnes.
An emphatic dunk by Dewayne Dedmon and a 3-pointer by Yogi Ferrell helped the Kings take an 85-79 lead early in the fourth. They extended the lead to eight on a step-back jumper by Cory Joseph.
Miami battled back repeatedly over the final eight minutes to prevent Sacramento from pulling away. Robinson drilled a 3-pointer with 29.5 seconds left to tie the game. Bjelica grabbed his own rebound and scored with 1.9 seconds left to give the Kings a 105-103 lead, but Adebayo caught a lob at the rim and dropped it in with 0.8 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime.
Bagley was guarding the inbound pass on the play. Joseph ended up being left alone against Adebayo under the basket.
“We were switching everything,” Kings coach Luke Walton said. “It was 1 through 5 switch, so (with) 1.8 (seconds) we were looking to take away any catch-and-shoots and we were hoping, with Marvin’s length on the ball, anything around the rim would be a tough pass to get over him. So we had Harrison on Bam originally and then they got the advantage on the size on the switch, and they executed the play perfectly.”
Miami quickly opened up a four-point lead in the overtime session, but Hield drained back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Kings up 111-109 with 2:35 to play. The Heat went up 114-113 on a 3-pointer by Nunn. Bogdan Bogdanovic had a chance to tie the game with 0.2 seconds remaining, but his 3-pointer was blocked by Johnson.
Bagley is ‘all good’
There was some concern about Bagley after he left Saturday’s loss to the Utah Jazz in the final minutes with an apparent injury to his left foot. Bagley recently returned after missing eight games with a sprained left foot.
Walton said Bagley felt fine when he woke up Sunday morning and the team’s training staff determined he was “all good” going into Monday’s game.
Dedmon steps up
Dedmon gave the Kings one of his best efforts of the season, posting six points and eight rebounds.
Dedmon played a key role in helping the Kings build an eight-point lead during a key sequence at the start of the fourth quarter. He threw down a big dunk and went up high to grab a couple of rebounds off the glass, playing with more energy than he’s shown most of the season.
The Kings signed Dedmon to a three-year, $40 million contract in July. He requested a trade after losing his starting job and falling out of the team’s rotation. Kings general manager Vlade Divac might find other teams are more interested in Dedmon following his performance against the Heat.
Another scare
The Kings got another scare when small forward Harrison Barnes went down after running into an illegal screen from Miami’s Meyers Leonard. Barnes crumpled to the floor and appeared to be in considerable pain as he clutched his left arm, but he remained in the game after the team’s training staff tended to his left shoulder during a timeout.
Late scratch
Heat small forward Jimmy Butler was not listed on the team’s injury report Monday afternoon, but he was a late scratch due to right hip soreness. Butler logged 33 minutes in Sunday’s 107-102 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, finishing with 16 points, six assists and five rebounds.
Butler is averaging 20.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.4 assists in his first season with the Heat. He is a four-time NBA All-Star and NBA All-Defensive Second Team selection.
Home-court advantage
Miami went into the game with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, including a stellar 18-1 mark at home. The only team that has beaten the Heat at home this season was the Los Angeles Lakers, who escaped with a 113-110 victory on Dec. 13 after Butler missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds.
Kings upcoming schedule
Jan. 22 at Detroit, 4 p.m.
Jan. 24 at Chicago, 5 p.m.
Jan. 27 at Minnesota, 5 p.m.
Jan. 29 vs. Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.
Jan. 30 at Los Angeles Clippers, 7:30 p.m.
Injury report
Kings: OUT — Richaun Holmes (shoulder); Trevor Ariza (trade pending); Wenyen Gabriel (trade pending); Caleb Swanigan (trade pending).
Heat: OUT — Jimmy Butler (hip); Justise Winslow (back).
This story was originally published January 20, 2020 at 5:14 PM.
