Darius Acuff Jr. #5 of the Sacramento Kings dribbles the ball past Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat during the first half at Golden 1 Center on November 08, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Mandatory photo credit: Thien-An Truong/Getty Images)
By Jeremiah Salmonson
SACRAMENTO, — On Sunday night, the Kings welcomed the Miami Heat to Sacramento for a 6 p.m. affair at Golden 1 Center.
The Kings were coming off their eighth loss of the season at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs, 124-109, on Friday night, bringing their record to 1-8 on the season.
On the Heat side of things, they had the last two days off after falling to the Warriors in San Francisco, 120-100, on Thursday night, leaving them with a 3-6 record.
On Sunday, the Kings played a competitive game but ultimately fell 114-108 to the Miami Heat.
In the first quarter, it was the Miami Heat who managed to jump out to an early lead on the Kings. Led by four scorers (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins) who each had six points in the first, the Heat outscored the Kings 34-30 in the quarter to take the quick lead. On the Kings’ side, Darius Acuff Jr. started the game hot as he dropped 10 first-quarter points while Zach LaVine was right behind him, scoring eight.
The second quarter saw equally competitive minutes, but it was a run late in the quarter that allowed the Heat to create some separation from the Kings. The Heat outscored the Kings 34-29 in the second to take a 68-59 lead into the halftime break. Bam Adebayo led the way in scoring for the Heat in the second as he dropped 10 more points on the Kings. Daeqwon Plowden and Leaky Black led the Kings in scoring as they each dropped six points in the quarter, while Darius Acuff Jr. brought his first-half total to 15 points going into halftime. The Heat were beating the Kings from the three-point line as they shot 11 of 23 in the first half while the Kings were just 7 of 19 from behind the arc.
In the third quarter, both teams’ defenses stepped up to keep the third a low-scoring quarter. However, the Heat still managed to outscore the Kings 23-22 to keep their lead in a good spot heading into the fourth quarter. Darius Acuff Jr. paced the Kings in the third quarter with six points, but it was Klay Thompson with 12 points for the Heat who kept Miami in control of the game. Giannis Antetokounmpo also had a solid quarter for the Heat as he scored eight points to bring his game total to 22 points.
In the fourth quarter, the Kings immediately went on an 8-0 run against the Heat that ended with the score at 91-89. That run gave the fans some hope late in the game, but that proved to be the closest the Kings would get the rest of the way. The Heat managed to stop the bleeding and defeated the Kings 114-108 at the conclusion of the fourth quarter. The Kings outscored the Heat in the fourth quarter 27-23, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit the Kings had dug themselves into earlier in the game.
With the loss, the Kings remained winless at home and fell to 1-9 through the first 10 games of the 2026-27 season.
After the game, Kings head coach Doug Christie spoke to the media about his assessment of the game and where the Kings go from here.
“The first half was not what we wanted. 30 point quarters, 68 [points in the half],” Doug said after the game. “Second half, the high level on the defensive end, 46 points for them. That’s where we want to live in that zone. But in our league, just that little bit… we don’t have that much room for error.”
Darius Acuff Jr. finished the game with 32 points (on 11-of-21 shooting), 10 assists and five rebounds. Speaking with the media after the game, Acuff Jr. said he believes this group will continue to improve game by game.
“Yeah, we’re trying every night, man. I would say that,” Darius said after the game. “I think we’re competing. I think we’re giving effort. We talk as a group, we’re talking as a whole, and we’re just trying to get better each and every game. Like I said, building that trust and communication since summer league, all of us, and then starting training camp. I think we’ve just been building and building… It’s too early to just judge and assess things right now. So we are just trying to stay together and make sure we don’t listen to the outside noise and just stay together.”
I’m not sure I agree that it’s too early to assess things for the Kings, but I understand the sentiment of still trying to gel as a unit with injuries showing up like they did last year. However, the Kings are now 10 games into this season with little to show for it with the 1-9 record they possess. I think it’s clear this current group is missing something in order to compete at a high level in the NBA. Time will tell if that assessment proves true or if they somehow manage to string together a competitive stretch of games and dig themselves out of the hole they have dug early on this season.
The Kings stay home to take on the Orlando Magic on Tuesday at 7 p.m. PST at Golden 1 Center.
