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 "I think we finally found our style," forward Chris Bosh said.
"For one, we're going to have to be a very good defensive team."
The Heat were that and more against Sacramento, outrebounding them
38-35, creating 17 points off 15 turnovers and holding the Kings to
their second-lowest scoring output of the season.
They did it on a night they were without leading scorer Dwyane Wade.
The guard strained his left hamstring Tuesday against the Lakers in
Los Angeles, and the Heat (18-22) played their second straight game
without him.
With Wade out, Bosh scored 30 points and pulled seven rebounds, and
frontcourt mate Luol Deng scored 12 of his 25 points in the third
quarter. Miami totaled 26 assists and capped a 3-2 road trip.
"We're kind of to the point where we kind of know what we're doing
(on the court), and that's a win in itself," Bosh said of a Heat
team that has struggled to find chemistry after the departure of
forward LeBron James. "I think it could be better. But guy were
moving the ball, and guys were moving to the right spots, and we
were making the right passes."
 Defensively, the Heat were sharp, too. They crowded Kings center
DeMarcus Cousins in the key and pressured the ball when it was in
his hands and forced Sacramento to rely on its perimeter shooting.
The Kings knocked down seven of 16 shots from 3-point range but
converted just 42.7 percent of their shots overall.
"It's about committing to holding a good offensive team down," Heat
coach Eric Spoelstra said. "Second efforts on loose balls and
rebounding -- that was really the difference in the game. I like
that, probably more than anything, about the second half."
Cousins finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds, his 23rd
double-double in 28 games for Sacramento this season, but he also
turned over the ball eight times.
"Team-wise, (we) probably (could) do a better job of spacing,
cutting, moving without the ball," Cousins said. "Myself, (it was
just making bad decisions with the ball. Right intentions, but just
wrong decisions."
That spelled doom for a Sacramento team playing without forward Rudy
Gay, its second-leading scorer. Gay, averaging 20.4 points, 6.0
rebounds and 4.1 assists in a team-leading 35.6 minutes per contest,
sprained a left knee lateral joint capsule in the Kings' 108-104
overtime loss to Dallas on Tuesday and missed his third game of the
season.
The Kings also played without forward Carl Landry, who missed his
first contest after spraining his right wrist against Dallas. Guard
Ramon Sessions missed his 11th straight game with a lower back
strain.
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Without them, Sacramento's offense stalled. The Kings made six of 19
shots in the third quarter and saw a 52-44 halftime deficit grow to
as many as 17 points.
"I just thought we couldn't create pace tonight," Kings coach Tyrone
Corbin said. "We were looking around for somebody to bail us out. We
can't afford to do that."
Guard Ben McLemore finished with 15 points, guard Darren Collison
scored 13 points and forward Derrick Williams, making just his
second start of the campaign, tallied 10 points and six rebounds for
Sacramento. Guard Ray McCallum scored 11 points.
NOTES: With F Carl Landry (right wrist sprain) joining F Rudy Gay
(left knee capsule sprain) on the sidelines against Miami, G Ben
McLemore and G Nik Stauskas remain the only two Kings to have played
in every game this season. McLemore, in his second season out of
Kansas, has played all of Sacramento's 121 games since being
drafted. ... Miami G Dwyane Wade hasn't played in Sacramento in more
than two calendar years. He also sat out Miami's 108-103 overtime
loss at Sacramento on Dec. 27, 2013. Wade's next game will be the
750th of his career. ... Former King Hassan Whiteside made his
second career start for Miami. Whiteside played 19 games for the
Kings from 2010-12. He finished with four points and three fouls in
14 minutes. ... Kings C DeMarcus Cousins startedFriday with five
technical fouls, four behind Phoenix F Markieff Morris and Oklahoma
City G Russell Westbrook for the most in the NBA. Cousins, who was
tied for ninth with Golden State F Draymond Green, totaled 33
technical fouls the previous two seasons, the most in the NBA. He's
never finished fewer than 14 or out of the top five.
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