It took overtime, but the Miami Heat stepped up late to get the win against the Sacramento Kings.
On the comeback trail with just minutes remaining in the fourth, it seemed as if the Sacramento Kings were going to deal Miami the same sting it felt during Friday’s gut wrenching loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
Falling behind twice in the final two minutes, the Heat managed to climb back and force OT behind a pair of clutch shots by Tyler Johnson and Dion Waiters. With a little help from the refs(and Hassan Whiteside, of course,) the Kings played virtually the entire overtime period without the best big man in basketball on the floor. In 35 minutes of play, DeMarcus Cousins had tallied 30 points and was doing a number on Whiteside, who struggled with foul trouble for most of the night.
He would foul out late in regulation, possibly the largest contributing factor to Miami outscoring the Kings 17-5 in overtime.
Goran Dragic scored 25 points and dished out eight assists, Dion Waiters dropped an impressive season-high 20 points on 50 percent shooting, and Whiteside recorded his fourth double-double to start the season as the Heat overcame both a blown double-digit lead and furious Sacramento rally to hold off the Kings, 108-96.
Rudy Gay scored a season-high 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Kings. Arron Afflalo added 18 points from the starting shooting guard spot.
The Heat will travel north for a showdown at the AirCanada Centre with the Raptors on Friday at 7:30 PM.