Using NBA 2K20 to predict the Miami Heat vs the Sacramento Kings

The Miami Heat play host to the Sacramento Kings on Monday’s Martin Luther King Day. What does NBA 2K20 have to say about the matchup?

The Miami Heat will take part in the NBA’s Martin Luther King Day proceedings with a 5 PM EST start against the visiting Sacramento Kings. This will be the second game of the second half of the season for the Heat as they bring their 29-13 record against the 15-27 Kings.

We’ve been predicting game outcomes for the Heat using NBA 2K20 for more six weeks, and to this point, we’ve only got three games wrong (seriously, still!). Once again we’ll look to the advanced predictive powers of NBA 2K to get an idea of what to expect in this game between the Heat and Kings.

First, the ground rules. We modified the Kings’ lineup to reflect their rotation and minutes from their recent games As for the Heat, we’ll follow their minutes and rotation as closely as possible relative to their past few games.

To reflect the Heat’s defensive tendencies, we moved up head coach Erik Spoelstra’s run zone tendency from five percent to 50 percent. We also changed Bam Adebayo’s secondary position to power forward since Meyers Leonard’s positions look that way. Lastly, we edited Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, and Adebayo’s vitals to allow them to initiate the offense.

Starting lineups

Miami Heat

Point guard, Kendrick Nunn

Shooting guard, Duncan Robinson

Small forward, Jimmy Butler

Power forward, Bam Adebayo

Center, Meyers Leonard

Sacramento Kings

Point guard, De’Aaron Fox

Shooting guard, Buddy Hield

Small forward, Harrison Barnes

Power forward, Nemanja Bjelica

Center, Marvin Bagley III

Outcome

Sacramento Kings 126, Miami Heat 100

NBA 2K20 has predicted some bad losses for the Miami Heat so far in this experiment, including to the New York Knicks. This is a pretty bad loss for the Heat, especially coming on their own home court in blowout fashion.

The Kings got off to a 36-27 lead after the first quarter and won every quarter thereafter as they overwhelmed the Heat from the opening tip.

Sacramento shot 48 percent from the floor and 11-of-28 from 3-point range (39 percent), and the Heat shot just 43 percent from the floor and 8-of-34 from distance (24 percent). The Kings also outrebounded the Heat 64 to 46.

Player stats

Miami Heat

Jimmy Butler – 23 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 6 steals, 4 blocks

Goran Dragic – 20 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals

Bam Adebayo – 14 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists

Tyler Herro – 13 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist

Meyers Leonard – 10 points, 4 rebounds

Sacramento Kings

De’Aaron Fox – 19 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists

Harrison Barnes – 18 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist

Marvin Bagley III – 18 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal

Buddy Hield – 17 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal

Gorgui Dieng – 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks

Make sure to check back Wednesday morning for our next projections between the Miami Heat and the Washington Wizards.