Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 118-110 win over the Sacramento Kings (12-16) on Thursday night at Golden 1 Center. The Heat (12-17) is now 2-3 on its seven-game trip:
—The Sacramento Kings entered with the NBA’s worst defense, and the Heat offense did not waste the opportunity to put together a quality performance. And the All-Star duo of Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler led the way.
Miami scored 118 points while shooting 51.6 percent from the field and 12 of 34 on threes.
Adebayo picked his first triple-double of the season and the fourth of his NBA career with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
And Butler turned in his third straight triple-double performance with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists. He’s the first player in Heat history to produce a triple-double in consecutive games and he’s now the first player in Heat history to produce triple doubles in three consecutive games.
Butler, who has four triple-doubles in his past five games, now has nine-triple-doubles as a member of the Heat, including the playoffs. The only player to record more triple-doubles in a Heat uniform is LeBron James, who had 14 triple-doubles (including the playoffs) in his four seasons with the organization.
Heat big man Kelly Olynyk contributed a season-high 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting and seven rebounds.
The Heat’s offensive explosion in Sacramento is not surprising, considering the Kings entered with the worst defensive rating in the league with 117.8 points allowed per 100 possessions. The Kings’ defense is historically bad, as they are on pace for the worst single-season defensive rating since at least the 2000-01 season.
—A Kings player who has been linked to the Heat as a trade option was impressive, but that was one of the only positives for Sacramento on Thursday.
Guard De’Aaron Fox, who entered averaging a team-high 23.2 points per game, finished with 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting and 10 assists.
And Fox’s backcourt mate Buddy Hield, who entered averaging 16.1 points on 3.9 three-point makes per game, finished with five on 1-of-8 shooting from three-point range.
Instead, forward Nemanja Bjelica led the Kings’ offense with a team-high 25 points on 11-of-21 shooting and eight rebounds in his first start of the season after falling out of the rotation.
The Sacramento Bee reported last week that the Heat is among the teams that have shown interest in Bjelica, who averaged 11.5 points while shooting 41.9 percent on threes, 6.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 72 games (67 starts) last season.
Bjelica, who is in the final season his contract and has a salary of $7.2 million this season, would fit into the Heat’s a $7.6 million trade exception that expires March 22. Trade exceptions allow teams to trade for a player whose salary fits into the exception without having to send back salary.
—Heat guard Tyler Herro continues to thrive as a scorer in the midrange and around the basket.
While Herro entered shooting just 33.9% on threes, he has been an efficient offensive option inside the three-point line. He entered Thursday shooting 50.8% on midrange shots and 62.3% at the rim.
That trend continued for Herro, 21, against the Kings. He shot 2 of 4 on threes, but he also shot 9 of 10 in the paint.
Herro ended the night with a team-high 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting in 32 minutes off the bench in his sixth man role.
—The two-way contract player currently in the Heat’s rotation? Guard Gabe Vincent.
With multiple key players missing time because of a combination of injuries and the league’s health and safety protocols throughout the first two months of the season, at least one of the Heat’s two two-way contract players have been in the rotation most of the way.
Two-way contract forward Max Strus played in 10 of 12 games leading up to Wednesday’s loss to the Golden State Warriors. But Thursday’s win over the Kings marked the second straight game that Strus has not been called into.
But Vincent, who did not play in Monday’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, appeared in his second straight game. He finished scoreless in 12 minutes.
—The Heat faced another short-handed team during its seven-game trip, and this time it was able to take advantage. Another short-handed team is next.
The Utah Jazz defeated the Heat 112-94 on Saturday without injured starting guard Mike Conley.
Then the Clippers found a way to earn a 125-118 win over the Heat on Monday despite missing four starters, including the All-Star duo of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.
And the Warriors rallied from 15-point fourth-quarter deficit for a 120-112 overtime win over the Heat on Wednesday. The Warriors were missing All-NBA defender Draymond Green and rookie James Wiseman, and were forced to start 6-6 Juan Toscano-Anderson at center.
But the Heat was opportunistic on Thursday, with the Kings missing two starters. Sacramento was without starting forwards Harrison Barnes (left foot strain) and Richaun Holmes (right knee soreness) against Miami.
And the Los Angeles Lakers will be without one of their stars for Saturday’s prime time matchup against the Heat. Lakers superstar big man Anthony Davis is expected to miss the game because of a right calf strain, and starting guard Dennis Schroder’s availability for Saturday’s contest is now in question after he missed Thursday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets because of the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
Of course, the Heat has also been without a few key players during the trip. The Heat remains without Avery Bradley (right calf strain), Goran Dragic (left ankle sprain), Meyers Leonard (season-ending left shoulder surgery) and Chris Silva (left hip flexor strain) on Monday
When asked Thursday whether Dragic has been ruled out for the final two games of the Heat’s trip, which ends Monday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Spoelstra said there was no new update.
