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 "It's big for us," forward Rudy Gay said. "We missed a lot of
shots and made a lot of bad plays early, but we responded."
The way the Kings responded helped the franchise end a half-decade
of frustration against the Heat and proved that forward LeBron James
and Miami aren't invincible against the Western Conference. The
Kings, who trailed by as many as 17 in the first half, opened the
extra frame with a 13-5 run and held on to beat Miami for the first
time since March 2, 2008.
Center DeMarcus Cousins had 27 points and 17 rebounds for his third
straight double-double and 16th of the season for Sacramento. Gay
finished with 26 points, and his length defensively seemed to
frustrate James in the second half.
Miami played without guards Dwyane Wade (sore knees) and Ray Allen
(right knee tendinities) and forward Chris Andersen (tight back) but
still jumped out to a 23-6 lead in the opening quarter and seemed
ready to cruise to another victory against the Western Conference.
Instead, the Heat's 19-game winning streak against Western
Conference opponents ended with a thud despite a game-high 33 points
from forward LeBron James. Miami was trying to tie the Boston
Celtics' run of 20 in a row set from Feb. 11-Nov. 23, 1973, for the
longest such streak by an Eastern Conference team in NBA history.
James, the league's four-time MVP scored 19 points in the first half
and canned three straight 3-pointers late in overtime after
Sacramento built a 104-97 lead. But he said he strained his groin in
the second half and was uncertain whether he could play in Miami's
game Saturday at Portland.
He missed 6 of his first 7 shots in the second half, scored only
three points combined in the third and fourth quarters, and went
long stretches without touching the ball after halftime.
"We stopped making shots, and then they started making shots," he
said. "They have a lot of talent, and that's what it came down to."
Sacramento, which lost its last eight to Miami by at least 10
points, made 11 of its 16 shots in the third quarter in erasing a
55-45 halftime deficit. Point guard Isaiah Thomas also got going
after intermission, scored 15 of his 22 points and handing out eight
of his 11 assists in the game's final 29 minutes.
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"It shows that it's tough to guard all three of those guys,"
Kings coach Michael Malone said, referring to Gay, Thomas and
Cousins. "I ran Rudy the whole second half, and he came up with
some big baskets for us. He played some decent defense on
LeBron."
Gay canned a shot from the left corner of the key to tie the
game 89-89 at halftime, moments after he stripped James at the
other end. For much of the second half, Gay fronted James, and
the Heat guard became alarmingly invisible at the offensive end.
"We wanted to back up off him and force him to make contested
jumpers," Malone said. "He beat us way too easy off his dribble
in the first half, and we knew that was something that needed to
change."
Cousins scored on put-backs of two offensive rebounds in the
overtime, and also made 1 of 2 free throws after a flagrant foul
was called on Mario Chalmers on Cousins down low in the key.
Cousins received a technical foul in the first half, his
NBA-leading ninth of the season, after a similarly hard foul
that wasn't called a flagrant.
"He is who he is, an emotional player who hates to lose," Malone
said. "He came up with some huge plays, not with just scoring,
but with offensive and defensive rebounds."
Center Chris Bosh added 18 points for Miami, and point guard
Norris Cole had 13 points in 38 minutes.
NOTES: Heat G Dwyane Wade sat out as he continues to take at
least one night off in back-to-back games because of balky
knees. Wade, who has played 21 of the Heat's 29 games, is
expected to play at Portland on Saturday. ... Heat G Ray Allen
(sore right knee) missed his fourth game of the season and F-C
Chris Andersen (back tightness) missed his second for Miami.
.... The Kings played the first of consecutive games against
last season's NBA finalists. They face the San Antonio Spurs in
Texas on Sunday. The last time Sacramento faced the previous NBA
finalists in two straight games was in 2005 when they played the
Spurs and the Detroit Pistons. ... Sacramento G Isaiah Thomas
made a 3-pointer in his 22nd consecutive game, the third-longest
active streak in the NBA and the fourth longest in franchise
history. ... The Kings gave up at least 28 points in the first
quarter for the eighth consecutive game.
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