Bam Adebayo, Jaime Jaquez Jr. make huge plays late as Heat hold on to unlikely win in Sacramento

Down three starters in Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier along with two rotation pieces in Josh Richardson and Nikola Jovic, the Miami Heat stood tall with an explosive Sacramento Kings team at full strength.

After building up a 101-81 advantage in the fourth quarter, the Kings used a 21-5 run to cut Miami's lead to two and nearly steal a victory. But thanks to the heroics of Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Bam Adebayo, the Heat held onto their lead and defeated the Kings,121-110, in Sacramento Monday night.

The Heat nearly squandered a 20-point lead in Sacramento but Bam Adebayo and Jaime Jaquez Jr. made big plays down the stretch as Miami held on to the win.

Many crucial plays were made down the stretch, starting with the elite shot-making from Jaquez, who finished the game with 26 points on an impressive 70% shooting. Throughout the night, Jaquez looked like the player Heat fans have fallen in love with, as he attacked mismatches in the mid-range and post while also beating the defense with cuts. When Sacramento rallied back and shrank Miami's lead to only one possession, Jaquez scored two critical buckets and settled the Heat down at a much-needed time.

On the first, Jaquez attacked the smaller Kevin Huerter by backing him down and shooting a turnaround jumper over the top. Shortly after, Jaquez got matched up with Domantas Sabonis on the wing. Jaquez picked up his dribble while attacking baseline and seemed to have nowhere to go but, with a great display of patience and skill, Jaquez stepped through and hit an impressive floater.

Once the Heat built some separation, Adebayo put a bow on the game with a pair of plays on both ends.

With the shot clock under five, Adebayo received the ball at the free throw line with Huerter on him, took one dribble, and hit a clean turnaround jump shot to put Miami up 116-110. The entry pass came from Duncan Robinson, who finished with a career-high 11 assists.

Miami then took an eight-point lead after a filthy Caleb Martin slam, and Adebayo followed up Martin's Kodak moment with a vicious block on Trey Lyles that killed any remaining hope of a Kings comeback.

Adebayo finished the game with 28 points on 11 of 18 shooting,10 rebounds, seven assists and two steals, while Jaquez notched 26 points on 12 for 17 shooting, five rebounds, two assists and three steals.

The Heat received other contributions from Kevin Love, Caleb Martin, Haywood Highsmith and Delon Wright who had a tremendous Heat debut. But when plays needed to be made, Adebayo and Jaquez came through for the Heat, who have now won four straight games and eight out of their last 10. This win bumps the Heat's record to 32-25 and moves them into sixth place in the East.