The Miami HEAT defeated the Sacramento Kings 95-83 Friday night at Sleep Train Arena. Chris Bosh led the way for the HEAT with 30 points and seven rebounds.
Impact Performance of the Night: Chris Bosh was very aggressive from the start against the Kings and never looked back. While Bosh drove to the basket a few times, he primarily attacked from the perimeter. He was pretty much automatic on the turnaround, baseline jumper and connected on all three of his 3-pointers. Both Bosh and Luol Deng’s contributions were huge for the HEAT without Dwyane Wade in the lineup. In all, Bosh scored 30 points on 11-of-20 shooting, grabbed seven boards, dished out three assists and had three steals.
The Deciding Run: The HEAT broke open the game with a 16-2 run to go up 61-46 with 8:25 left in the third quarter. Miami played solid defense and moved the ball well on the other end throughout the run.
Play of the Game: With 7:28 to go in the third quarter, Hassan Whiteside stole the ball from DeMarcus Cousins. From there, he ran the break with Chris Bosh ahead of him. Whiteside brought it up court and found Bosh for the easy finish that put Miami up 63-49.
Another nice play came with 42 seconds left in the first half when Luol Deng blocked DeMarcus Cousins’ shot attempt from right around the free-throw line. Mario Chalmers came up with it and both he and Deng got out in transition. Chalmers hit Deng with a nice bounce pass and Deng finished the play to put the HEAT up 52-44.
Efficiency Rating: Offensive Efficiency: 108.9; Defensive Efficiency: 92.1
Trend to Watch: After scoring 19 points against the Warriors on Wednesday, Luol Deng had a great outing once more against the Kings. As usual, Deng moved well without the ball and had some tough finishes inside. However, he also hit quite a few jumpers against Sacramento. Deng scored 12 of his 25 points in the third quarter, which helped the HEAT build their lead. In addition to his offensive production, Deng also played solid defense by reading the passing lanes and contesting shots well. Deng finished with 25 points on 11-of-18 shooting, six boards, four assists and two blocks.
The Takeaway: Thanks to solid ball movement and great defense, the HEAT came out with a solid victory over the Sacramento Kings. Miami kept Sacramento on its toes thanks to 26 assists on 35 made field goals. Shabazz Napier started for the second-consecutive game and led the charge in that category, as he had five assists on the night. Napier played under control and made some smart decisions with the ball. He also had 12 points and two steals against the Kings.
Defensively, the HEAT forced Sacramento into a decent amount of turnovers and kept DeMarcus Cousins in check even with Chris Andersen out with an illness and Hassan Whiteside in foul trouble. Miami forced the Kings to commit 15 turnovers and scored 17 points off of them.
It was great to see the HEAT finish this tough road trip 3-2, especially since the team made strides in a number of areas. The team is off for a little bit before they play the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Notes: Dwyane Wade (strained hamstring) and Chris Andersen (illness) sat out.
Game Highlights: