James Johnson steps in with 22 points as Heat rally past Kings for OT win
MIAMI (AP) — Kendrick Nunn scored 25 points, James Johnson added 22 on 9-for-11 shooting and the Miami Heat improved their NBA-best home record to 19-1 by beating the Sacramento Kings 118-113 in overtime on Monday.
Goran Dragic scored 18 and Bam Adebayo finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who also lead the NBA with a 7-0 overtime record this season. The Heat have already matched last season’s home win total — Miami was 19-22 at home a season ago.
Dragic found Adebayo with a lob that set up a basket with .8 seconds left in regulation, and Adebayo — a strong All-Star candidate — scored the first four points of overtime for Miami.
The Kings scored the next six to reclaim the lead, but Miami ended the game on a 7-0 run. Sacramento still had a chance to tie the game after a turnover with about a minute left, but Johnson blocked Bogdan Bogdanovic’s 3-point try and Nunn sealed the win with a pair of free throws.
Nemanja Bjelica scored 22 points for Sacramento, which is 2-16 in its last 18 trips to Miami. Buddy Hield had 20 points for the Kings, and Marvin Bagley III finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds.
The Kings were 13 of 51 from 3-point range, the most attempts from beyond the arc in franchise history. Miami was without Jimmy Butler, who missed the game with right hip soreness.
The Heat played zone defense — a staple of their game this season — for long stretches of the first half, almost daring the Kings to shoot from deep.
Sacramento accepted the challenge, taking 25 3-pointers in the first half, 21 in the second half and five more in overtime. Bogdanovic had three 3s by halftime, while Harrison Barnes, Bjelica and Hield all had two apiece by the break.
The 5 p.m. local start meant the Kings didn’t have time for a traditional on-court shootaround Monday morning. Instead, they put tape down on the floor of a ballroom in their hotel and discussed concepts there.
“We talked about how much they like to play zone and that we have to make sure that we don’t let that zone get us stagnant,” Kings coach Luke Walton said.
They kept shooting the 3-pointers in the third, but went only 1 for 13 in that quarter and still emerged with the lead anyway. A two-point lead at the half was still a two-point lead for Sacramento going into the fourth, 78-76 after Miami turned the ball over seven times in the third.
TIP-INS
Kings: Barnes was shaken up early in the first quarter after appearing to have done something to his shoulder. He was able to remain in the game after a timeout. … This was the second game of a season-long five game road trip for the Kings. … There was a group of Heat fans from the Bahamas seated behind the Sacramento bench, a tribute to Hield — a native of the island nation.
Heat: Miami had its run of seven consecutive winning first quarters end, trailing 24-21 after 12 minutes Monday. The last time the Heat had a longer streak of after-one-quarter leads was an 11-game run from Jan. 31 through Feb. 24, 2011. … Derrick Jones Jr. was lost late in the third quarter after he took an inadvertent poke to both eyes from Sacramento’s Cory Joseph.
BUTLER’S HIP
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said there wasn’t a specific incident that caused Butler’s hip soreness and didn’t sound overly concerned that it would be a lingering issue. “I think a couple days of treatment will serve him really well,” Spoelstra said.
SHORT-HANDED KINGS
Sacramento is still waiting for its trade with Portland to become official, so the Kings were without Trevor Ariza, Wenyen Gabriel and Caleb Swanigan — who are about to become Trail Blazers. Kent Bazemore and Anthony Tolliver will be joining Sacramento, likely on Tuesday.
UP NEXT
Kings: Visit Detroit on Wednesday.
Heat: Host Washington on Wednesday.
