Kings-Heat Preview

Posted Feb 20 2012 4:20PM

MIAMI (AP) - Dwyane Wade finished his workout Monday and approached about a dozen reporters, one of the smallest media turnouts at a Miami Heat practice this season.

These days, the team with the NBA's best record almost seems like an afterthought.

"If it was packed in here right now, it would mean we were losing," Wade said. "When we look over and see a lot of people in here, we're not playing well."

And that certainly isn't the case.

Winners of six straight, all by at least 12 points, the Heat are in their best stretch of the season. The midpoint of the regular-season schedule awaits Tuesday when Miami (25-7) hosts Sacramento (10-21), losers of five straight. Here's one example of how wildly different things have gone for those clubs: Miami has led by at least 20 points in each of its last six games, while the Kings have only enjoyed that margin once this season - for all of 37 seconds.

If the spotlight is going to shine elsewhere these days, the Heat are fine with that arrangement.

"It's quiet as hell around here and we're doing pretty good," forward Chris Bosh said. "But that's to be expected. And we wouldn't have it any other way. That's just the name of the game. That's the business. That's how it's always going to be. You're more of a story when you have controversy."

Or a phenomenon.

Already in Miami - and to the team's chagrin, given that Sacramento is next on the schedule and therefore supposed to be the focus - there's no shortage of talk about Thursday night's home game against the New York Knicks, and none of that buzz is surrounding the years-old rivalry between the teams.

No, the Jeremy Lin craze is going strong, with ticket demand for Thursday rivaling what was going on during last season's NBA finals against Dallas.

So as Linsanity reigns, other NBA story lines like the Heat passing Chicago for the NBA's best record, San Antonio taking a 10-game winning streak into its game Monday night, even the looming All-Star weekend seem almost forgotten.

"We don't know if people get bored (with Miami winning) or not," forward LeBron James said. "We just know there's a lot more going on. I guess there's other, better story lines right now going on in the league, so we can go out and just play the game and just try to do it at a high level. Let everybody else get the headlines right now and just play Miami Heat basketball."

Miami's numbers of late, including this six-game winning streak, are flirting with absurd.

Wade has connected on at least half his shots in 10 straight games, his longest run since doing that 11 straight times as a rookie. The Heat are shooting 49.2 percent over their last six games - the second-best mark in the league since Feb. 10, 0.1 percent off Oklahoma City's pace - while holding teams to an NBA-best 39.3 percent mark from the floor over that span.

Things are going so well for Miami, neither Wade nor James have been asked to play much in fourth quarters lately.

"Getting tired of sitting down in the fourth quarter, personally," James said Monday, the look on his face making it clear that he wasn't being entirely serious. "It's messing up my averages."

James and Wade might not have to play much in the fourth Tuesday, either. Sacramento is 3-16 on the road - 0-4 thus far on a six-game trip - and has lost its last three against the Heat by at least 20 points.

The Kings have lost six in a row and 14 of 15 in the series, and their nine consecutive losses in South Beach have been by an average of 17.8 points.

James scored 31 points in 30 minutes in the Heat's 117-97 home win over Sacramento last Feb. 22.

James has been talked about as an MVP frontrunner for weeks already and was at the center of a huge story last week when he said he would not rule out one day maybe returning to Cleveland as a player. The Heat are sending six representatives to All-Star weekend, where the second half of the season, the chase for the 2012 championship - and the loss in the 2011 finals - are sure to be popular topics.

So when the all-about-Miami craze returns, the Heat say they'll be ready.

"We're comfortable in our world now," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Monday. "There can be a lot of noise. It can be relatively minimal noise. I think we're able now to compartmentalize and focus on what's real, our team and trying to improve and trying to get ourselves ready to play at our optimal level during the playoffs. That's the only thing that matters."

Wade almost said he's welcoming the break, both in terms of getting some late-game minutes off, and without the levels of all-the-time scrutiny that has seemed to follow the Heat since he, Bosh and James teamed up in 2010.

"It's great," Wade said. "We're focusing on what we need to do. The only attention we're thinking about is giving each other the attention that we need as a team and making sure that everyone in here knows how they important they are to our success and what our goal is. Our goal is to be the best team in the NBA at the end of the year and not right now."

Heat streak at 7 after beating Kings 120-108

By TIM REYNOLDS
Posted Feb 21 2012 11:10PM

MIAMI (AP) The Miami Heat knew what was coming from Sacramento. Eventually, they handled the Kings' challenge.

Dwyane Wade had 30 points and 10 assists, Mario Chalmers and Chris Bosh each scored 20 points and the NBA-leading Heat stretched their winning streak to seven games with a 120-108 win over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night.

"It was a good game for me, just trying to be aggressive and was able to get my teammates some shots," said Wade, who shot 11 for 16 and has tied his career-best with 11 straight games of shooting 50 percent or better, matching a run from his rookie season. "And I was also able to continue do what I've been doing the last couple games, just taking high-percentage shots and making them."

LeBron James scored 18 points, Norris Cole had 12 and Udonis Haslem added 10 for Miami (26-7), which has won each of its games during this streak by at least 12 points.

Next up for Miami: The New York Knicks and Jeremy Lin come to town Thursday.

"It's going to be fun," James said. "It's going to be electrifying. ... It could be one of the most-watched games that we've had in a long time."

Isaiah Thomas scored 20 of his 24 points in the third quarter for Sacramento, which dropped its sixth straight. Marcus Thornton scored 23, Tyreke Evans finished with 21 points and 10 assists, and Jason Thompson had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Kings.

The Kings were without guard John Salmons, a late scratch with a sore right hip.

"You needed to play a perfect game to win this game against this team and we were pretty close to the perfect game," Kings coach Keith Smart said. "We had moments, but when you give up 25 points off turnovers, you're not going to beat many teams."

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said he didn't expect Sacramento to come out and play like a team with one of the NBA's worst records, and he was right. Thompson had 10 points and six rebounds in the opening quarter and Evans' buzzer-beating 3-pointer from near midcourt gave Sacramento a 32-26 lead after 12 minutes.

Maybe the biggest surprise of the first half was that it took Miami - a team that had led by 20 points at some time in each of its six previous outings, but never enjoyed better than an 18-point margin Tuesday - nearly a full hour after tipoff to get the highlight reels cranking.

"I don't think we came out flat," said Chalmers, who matched a career-best with six 3-pointers. "I just think they knew how to get out early on us."

Late in the second quarter, James blocked a drive by Thomas, the Heat controlled the rebound, and took off running. James got the ball to Wade, who leaped, stayed airborne long enough to draw contact from Cousins and then made an acrobatic layup while falling to the floor. The three-point play put Miami ahead 49-47 and the Heat kept the lead - such as it was - the rest of the half.

Another spectacular James-to-Wade connection helped.

Wade forced Donte Greene into a miss, and Francisco Garcia grabbed the rebound and tried to lay the ball in, all in the same motion. James blocked Garcia's shot - the Kings wanted goaltending - and moments later threw a 70-foot chest pass to Wade for an alley-oop layup at the other end, part of a late mini-flurry that sent Miami into halftime leading 57-53.

"They played very well and they have some weapons, some young weapons on that team that you saw," Spoelstra said.

The Heat kept the lead for the entirety of the third quarter, despite Thomas' best efforts.

Thomas' 20 points came in a 10-minute span of that quarter, a 5-for-6 effort from 3-point range and 5-for-5 from the foul line, the last three there coming when he was fouled by Cole while trying about a 25-footer in the final seconds of the third and getting Sacramento to 93-88.

"I've always been a scorer my whole life," Thomas said. "I score in bunches but we didn't get the win. That's the most important thing."

Early in the fourth, the Heat seemed to decide enough was enough.

A 15-5 run, mostly from the Heat reserves, provided the long awaited breathing room. Cole had four points and an assist in the early stages, and after Mike Miller missed a 3-pointer, Haslem capped the flurry with a one-handed putback dunk that sent Wade running about 15 feet onto the court at the other end in celebration.

"We know teams are going to play better than they usually play against us and that's OK," James said. "If it takes four quarters, which we're capable of playing, we just continue to weather the storm and continue to do what we need to do."

NOTES: Haslem (now with 4,549) passed Rony Seikaly (4,544) for second place on Miami's all-time rebounding list. At his current pace, Haslem would have a chance to catch Alonzo Mourning (4,807) by the end of the season. ... Thomas' third-quarter barrage was the biggest one-quarter scoring effort by a Kings player since Kevin Martin scored 24 in the fourth against New Orleans on Feb. 23, 2009. ... A number of fans chanted throughout the night that they wanted to see Jimmer Fredette in the game. Fredette did not play. ... Boxer Floyd Mayweather was in attendance, seated near the Kings' bench.

Notebook: Heat 120, Kings 108

Posted Tuesday February 21, 2012 11:18PM

By Shandel Richardson, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The Miami Heat defeated the Sacramento Kings 120-108 Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena.

The Heat were led by guard Dwyane Wade's 30 points and 10 assists. Guard Mario Chalmers also added 20 points, hitting 6-for-12 3-pointers. The Heat outscored the Kings 31-21 in the second quarter to take control before cruising the rest of the way. It was their seventh straight victory, all of them coming by double-digits.

Forward Chris Bosh broke free from a recent shooting slump to score 20 points, going 7-for-14 from the field. Forward LeBron James had a quiet night with 18 points and eight assists.

The Kings stayed closed behind their 3-point shooting, hitting 13-for-27 from the arc. Guard Isaiah Thomas led five players in double-figures with 24 points, including five 3-pointers.

QUOTABLE: "We weren't necessarily sharp consistently throughout the game. We did some nice things in spurts and stretches. You do have to give the Kings credit, they played very well ... They pushed us there until the very end."
-- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.

THE STAT: The Heat shot 56 percent from the field, making 45-for-81 attempts.

TURNING POINT: With Wade and James on the bench, the Heat went on a 9-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to break things open. The spurt was fueled by Bosh, Shane Battier, Mike Miller and Norris Cole.

QUOTABLE II: "We had to play a perfect game to win this against this team and we were pretty close to a perfect game. We had moments but when you give up 25 points off turnovers, you are not going to beat many teams."
-- Kings coach Keith Smart.

HOT: As much as folks want to talk about James, Wade has played solid of late. He recorded his third 30-point game of the season.

NOT: After a stretch of strong play, Kings center DeMarcus Cousins shot just 3-for-13 from the field. He struggled against the Heat's swarming interior defense.

GOOD MOVE: The Heat were able to reestablish Bosh in the offense. He struggled the past six games, but rebounded with his ninth double-double of the season.

BAD MOVE: The Kings may have stuck to the zone a tad bit long. Although effective, it gave Chalmers too many open looks from the 3-point arc.

NOTABLE: Forward Udonis Haslem moved into second place on the Heat's career rebounds list (4,549), surpassing Rony Seikaly ... He only trails Alonzo Mourning ... The six 3-pointers by Chalmers tied his career-high ... The Kings have lost five straight games on the road ... Isaiah Thomas scored 20 points in the third quarter, joining James, Kobe Bryant, Kyrie Irving and Nick Young to have a 20-point quarter this season.

UP NEXT: For the Heat, Thursday @ New York, Mar. 1 @ Portland, Mar. 2 @ L.A. Lakers. For the Kings, Wednesday @ Washington, Tuesday @ Utah, Mar. 1 vs. L.A. Clippers.

• Kings: Salmons
• Heat: Gladness, Harris

• Kings: Cousins
• Heat: --

• Lead Changes: 11
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL
• Officials: #22 Bill Spooner, #61 Courtney Kirkland, #68 Marat Kogut
• Attendance: 20068
• Duration: 2:12