Photo credit: @NBA

By: Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Kings hosted the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. The Heat came into the game having lost their last game, 115-99, to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Kings also lost their last game to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 106-101. The Kings and Heat are having very different seasons. The Kings had a record of 21-47. The Heat had a record of 36-32. Tip off was set for 7:00 pm PST with the Kings and Heat going head-to-head in Sacramento.

The first quarter would start off with a fairly mellow tempo. Neither team came out of the gate looking more dominant than the other. With 4:59 to play in the first quarter, the Kings trailed the Heat by only two points, 16-14. Vince Carter entered the game and fouled James Johnson. The Kings would add a few more points with time running out in the first quarter. It was over yet though as Buddy Hield would toss up a four foot floater to make a buzzer-beating two. The Kings would go into the second quarter down 31-24.

The Kings would come out in the second with full force. They scored the first seven points in the second and pulled within two at 31-33. They didn’t stop there. After the Heat added a two, the Kings were right back at it. The Kings added 10 points to make it 43-38 Kings on top with 6:21 in the second. Between that and with 3:15 to play the Kings would extend that advantage to 49-43. The Kings showed some real heart in the second. For what appeared to be a game favoring the Heat, the Kings battled back and went into the locker at halftime up 59-52.

In the third quarter, both teams came out looking like they did in the first half. The Heat looking for a go-to scorer, and the Kings looking to keep rolling. Both teams would bounce back and forth with the score being 82-73 Sacramento with 3:35 to play in the third. The Kings would add nine more with a minute left to make it 91-76. Frank Mason would attempt to hit a long-range three at the buzzer, but to no avail. The Kings would lead, 91-79, going into the fourth quarter.

In the final quarter, the Kings would get on the board first. Those points scored on a floater by Kosta Koufos. Mason would be fouled and he made both his shots to make it 95-79. At this point, the game looked as if it were heavily in Sacramento’s favor. This narrative would then continue. With eight minutes to play, the Kings led the game 97-84.

The Heat and Kings got in a little scuffle around the seven-minute mark. Two technical fouls were charged. The first went to Koufos and the second to Goran Dragic. At the five-minute mark, the Heat started to put a little pressure on the Kings. So if anyone thought this was over, think again. De’Aaron Fox was charged with a controversial call that put the Kings in the penalty. From all angles, it appeared that Fox made no contact with Dragic, who would make both his shots. That coupled with a three from Dragic to make the game, 104-102, in favor of the Kings. The Heat would storm back and take a 110-106 lead with only 49.6 seconds to play and the Kings had a possession as Hield countered with a long-range three to make it 110-109. As if we haven’t seen Fox come up clutch all year, he showed us again. Fox hit a buzzer beating layup to tie the game at 111 apiece. These two teams headed to overtime!

In overtime, the script was simple. Both teams battled hard! Bogdan Bogdanovic hit a long-range jumper to make it 119-115. The Heat answered back with a two, but Hield was fouled and made both free throws. Hield was fouled again and made both shots to set the stage for the Kings’ victory. With the crowd at Golden 1 Center going crazy, the Kings defeated the Heat 123-119 in OT.

What’s Next?
The Kings head down to the Bay Area, where they will face the Warriors on Friday at 7:30 pm PST.

The Heat stay on the road and go to Los Angeles to face the Lakers Friday at 7:30 pm PST.