Tag: LeBron James

Splash Brothers return: Warriors win 108-97

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
NBA: Finals-Golden State Warriors at Cleveland Cavaliers
Photo Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

By Charlie O. Mallonee

Fans, sports reporters and even other players were asking where had the Splash Brothers gone? Without the dominate play of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, it does not seem possible that the Golden State Warriors could find success on the basketball court. Yet despite the relatively quiet NBA Finals that Curry and Thompson have experienced, the Warriors went into game four on Friday night up 2-1 in the best of seven series.

On Friday night, something happened that made every fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers very unhappy. The Splash Brothers – Curry and Thompson – showed back up in Cleveland in a very big way. Curry and Thompson combined to score 63 of Golden State’s 108 points and they led the Warriors to a 108-97 win to take 3-1 lead in the series as it heads back to the Bay Area.

Stephen Curry – the NBA’s Most Valuable Player – led all scorers with 38 points. He connected on 7-of-13 3-point attempts and shot 11-for-25 overall. Curry converted 9-of-10 free throw opportunities. He also dished out six assists, grabbed five rebounds and had two steals.

Klay Thompson – the other half of the Splash Brothers – put up 25 points against Cleveland on Friday night. Thompson shot 4-for-9 from behind the 3-point line while going 7-for-14 from the floor. He was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line.

LeBron James scored 25 points but did not lead the Cavaliers in scoring. He shot 11-for-21 from the floor but went just 1-for-5 from long distance. James went to the free throw line just four times and converted just two of those opportunities. He hauled in 13 rebounds, distributed nine assists, had three blocked shots and two steals. James also became a little testy with Draymond Green late in the game that resulted in off-setting fouls. The Cavs could have used some of that fire earlier in the game.

Golden State

The Warriors shot 47.2-percent (17-for-36) from beyond the 3-point line. Those 17 3-point baskets set a new NBA Playoff single game record for conversions from downtown. Harrison Barnes hit four 3-pointers while Andre Iguodala added two of his own.

Golden State outrebounded the Cavaliers 43-40. Draymond Green led the Warriors with 12 rebounds.

The Warriors had six blocked shots in the game and Draymond Green had three of those.

Golden State posted 23 assists and turned the ball over just nine times to exceed the magic 2:1 ratio. The Warriors gave up just nine points off those nine turnovers.

The Warriors defense was in lock down mode especially in the second half on Friday night. They held the Cavs to just 24.0-percent (6-for-25) from 3-point range. Golden State forced Cleveland to turn the ball over 11 times and scored 18 points off those turnovers. The Cavaliers were held to just 20 points in the fourth quarter of the game.

Cleveland

Kyrie Irving led the Cavs scoring attack on Friday night with 34 points. He shot 14-for-28 from the floor and 2-for-6 from long distance. Irving had four rebounds and four assists in the game.

Kevin Love returned to the series after missing game three with concussion symptoms. Love did not start the game but he did play 25 minutes. He scored 11 points shooting 3-for-6 from the floor including one 3-point basket. Love also had five rebounds.

Tristan Thompson and JR Smith had 10 points each in the game.

The Cavaliers shot just 57.7-percent (15-for-26) from the free throw line. That statistic will haunt the Cavs over the weekend.

Up next

No team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Finals. Teams are 0-32 when trying to make that happen. Now those are some bad odds.

The Cavaliers and Warriors will meet for game five on Monday night in Oakland at Oracle Arena. The Warriors will be trying to win the Larry O’Brien trophy in front of the hometown fans Monday night.

Cavs explode in Game 3, romp Warriors by 30

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

AFP photo: Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James drives on Golden State Warriors Draymond Green during game three at Quicken Loans Arena Friday

CLEVELAND, OH — It wasn’t a must win game for Cleveland.

It was the game to be had.

After dropping the first two games in Oakland by a total of 48 points, Cleveland drummed the defending NBA champions in Game 3, 120-90, Wednesday night to trim Golden State’s lead in the best-of-seven NBA Finals series, 2-1.

Cleveland, who improved to 8-0 at home in the postseason, responded in a huge way with big games by both LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

James, who called Game 3 a “do or die” game, finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists to pace the Cavs, who never trailed in the game. James shot 14-for-26 from the floor  in 40 minutes of action, after shooting just 7-for-17 from the floor in Golden State’s 33-point win in Game 2.

Cleveland outscored Golden State in the first quarter, 33-16, thanks in large part to Irving.

Irving got Cleveland rolling early with 16 of his 30 points in the first quarter on 7-for-9 shooting. Irving shot 12-for-25 from the floor for the game and added eight assists.

“We’ve got to give the same effort Friday night,” James said postgame. “It started defensively and trickled down to the offensive side.”

J.R. Smith scored 20 points, and Tristan Thompson finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds (7 offensive). Cleveland controlled the boards, outrebounding Golden State 52-32.

Richard Jefferson, who started in place of Kevin Love, finished with nine points and eight rebounds.

Love sat out Game 3 due to symptoms from a concussion he suffered in Game 2 after taking an inadvertent elbow in the back of the head. Love didn’t pass the NBA concussion protocol and his status is unclear for Game 4 Friday night.

If Love is ready to go for Game 4, Cleveland could be reluctant to put him back into the starting lineup as the starting five of James, Irving, Smith, Jefferson and Thompson meshed well together and played faster against Golden State. The Cavs dominated the paint by outscoring the Warriors 54-32.

“Coaching staff gave us an excellent game plan and we executed it for 48 minutes,” added James. Cleveland shot 15-for-20 in the third quarter en route to finishing 52 percent from the field as a team for the game.

Golden State was hit in the mouth early and couldn’t recover from the punch that Cleveland landed to their chin.

Stephen Curry scored 19 points, mostly in the second quarter, after he and fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson (10 points) combined to shoot 0-for-8 in the first quarter. Thompson left the game briefly after taking a Timofey Mozgov knee to the left thigh while fighting through a screen chasing Irving.

Curry and Thompson, who haven’t had the games fans have been accustomed of seeing from the preeminent backcourt in the league, finished the game 10-for-26 from the floor.

“We were soft,” said coach Steve Kerr. “When you’re soft, you get beat on the glass and turn the ball over.”

Cleveland treated Game 3 like it was a street fight, resorting to Eastern Conference basketball by being physical with Golden State and pressing them into tough shots. The Warriors were 1-for-11 on catch and shoot 3s, before finishing 9-for-33 from behind the 3-point line.

Harrison Barnes had 18 points and eight rebounds, while Andre Iguodala finished with 11 points.

Draymond Green was off with just six points on just 2-for-8 shooting. Green added seven rebounds and seven assists for Golden State, who dropped their fifth straight Game 3 dating back to last year’s NBA Finals, where Cleveland took a 2-1 lead before Golden State rallied to capture the title by taking three of the last four games.

Golden State did show some fight late in the second quarter, outscoring Cleveland 27-18 before trailing 51-43 at halftime.

“We’re in good shape,” Curry said. “”Not the way we wanted tonight to go … We have a great opportunity on Friday to keep control of the series.”

This was an embarrassing loss for the Warriors, who still are in the driver seat but know that if they have any chance of taking a 3-1 lead, it must limit the turnovers (18 for Golden State compared to 13 for Cleveland) and get better performances from Curry and Thompson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kings fall to the Cavs 120-111

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers at Sacramento Kings
Photo Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Cleveland Cavaliers –  featuring “King” LeBron James – rolled into Sacramento on Wednesday to kick off a four-game West Coast swing. If you are a Cavs fan, you were very pleased with the result as Cleveland (45-18) downed the Kings 120 – 111.

The surprise may have been that James was not the star of the game. Kyrie Irving took that role as he scored 30 points shooting 11-for-22 from the floor including three 3-point baskets. Irving hit on five of six tries from the free throw line. He was literally at the right place at the right time for the Cavs for the entire game.

It was a hard fought contest that featured eight lead changes and eight ties. The Kings led at halftime 60 – 54. Then came the third quarter and one of the Kings dreaded “black holes”.

Cleveland outscored the Kings 35 – 24 in the third period. The Cavs shot 13-for-20 from the floor and hit on five of eight 3-point attempts. They out rebounded the Kings 11 – 7. The quarter ended with Cleveland leading 89 – 84 and they would never look back.

The Kings (25-38) put up a good fight in the fourth quarter and cut the Cleveland lead to three points with 2:37 remaining in the game. The Cavs used their offensive rebounding ability to get second and third chance shots to run away with the game.

Kings

The Kings were led by DeMarcus Cousins’ 29 points. The Kings big man had to fight for those points as he shot just 8-for-22 from the floor. He struggled from the free throw line going 12-for-18 from the stripe. Cousins missed the front end of a two shot opportunity from line five times in the second half. It was another double-double game for Cousins as he pulled down 11 rebounds.

Rudy Gay had a good night for Sacramento scoring 19 points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assist in 41-minutes of playing time.

Darren Collison started in the place of the injured Ben McLemore and scored 15 points. Collison alternated with Rondo on the point and distributed eight assists and added two steals.

Rajon Rondo did not have a great night for the Kings. He scored 11 points and had six assists but seemed frustrated all night long by the defense of Irving and JR Smith.

Omri Casspi scored 13 points while Caron Butler added seven, Kosta Koufos five and Willie Cauley-Stein four points.

Sacramento shot 47.6-percent (40-for-84) from the field and hit eight of 22 (36.4-percent) of their 3-point shots. The Kings struggled from the free throw line making just 23 of 32 opportunities (71.9-percent) from the charity line.

The Kings were out rebounded 51 – 38. They gave up 15 offensive rebounds to the Cavs. That is just too many second-chance opportunities to give a team as powerful as Cleveland.

Turnovers were not a problem for Sacramento. The Kings gave up just six points off 10 turnovers in the game.

Cavaliers

Kyrie Irving had plenty of help on his way to a 30 – point night. All five of the Cleveland starters finished in double digits.

James scored 25 points. Tristan Thompson – who started for the ill Timofey Mazgov – put up 18 points and added 15 rebounds. Kevin Love scored 17 points despite shooting just 4-for-13 from the floor. JR Smith added 15 points.

The Cavs shot 43.3-percent (39-for-90) for the game. They went 13-for-44 from beyond the 3-point line. Cleveland took advantage of their opportunities from the free throw line converting 29 of 35 opportunities.

The Cavaliers turned the ball over 14 times which resulted in nine points for the Kings.

What they said after the game

“We play good teams. We do a lot of good things for extended periods of time then we hit a black hole or it seems like we run short,” said Kings head coach George Karl. “They didn’t miss a lot of shots, even in the fourth quarter, but it was the offensive rebounds, scramble situations where we didn’t come up for the loose balls. It’s kind of frustrating. We’re playing pretty damn good basketball at times; (we) just don’t have that edge or that finishing way of winning a game against them.”

“Well coming into the game we said we want to play with pace but we know this team plays at a great pace,” said Cleveland head man Tyronn Lue. “Number one in pace. I think second in fast break points so we don’t want to get out there and get wild. I think the team kind of misunderstood what I was saying so in the third quarter we want to play at our pace. We want to attack downhill. We want to get easy open three’s. We want to get to the basket. If we don’t have it, then pull it out and run something. I thought in that third quarter they scored but we were able to score also. We scored fast.”

Up next

The Kings will practice on Thursday and return to action on Friday night when they host the Orlando Magic in Sacramento.

Cleveland travels to Los Angeles where they will face the Lakers on Thursday night. That will be the second game of the doubleheader on TNT.

 

Turnovers cost Kings in New Orleans

Published on by Michael MartinezLeave a comment

by Michael Martinez

picture credit USATSI

SACRAMENTO-I’m just as confused as the next person who watched tonight’s game against the Pelicans. The Kings looked dominate early on and played great basketball, however the team could not find a way to close out.

Turnovers and lackluster defense hurt this team especially down the stretch. After leading for the majority of the game, the Kings let a 17 point lead in the third quarter completely vanish. And while the Kings kept holding onto their lead, they let the Pelicans come back late and win the game, 115-112.

Out of the gate, both teams scored very quickly. Offense came in a hurry and the Kings started with a fast paced tempo. This allowed Sacramento to take the lead for most of the quarter, but the Pelicans never quit.

Up 27-20 with 3:35 left in the first quarter, the Kings allowed New Orleans to go for a 10-0 run that ended after Omri Casspi put back a lay up for the Kings’ first field goal in two plus minutes.. The Pelicans held a 30-29 lead, but Casspi knocked a pair of free throws to regain the lead. The Pelicans would finish the quarter with the lead after Alonzo Gee made a layup and was fouled with .3 seconds in the quarter. Gee made the free throw to put the Kings at a disadvantage after one, 33-31.

DeMarcus Cousins and Norris Cole put on a scoring frenzy for their respective teams. Cousins finished with 13 points and Cole scored 14 for team highs. The Pelicans shot 56% from the field, but their seven turnovers allowed the Kings to keep it close. Rajon Rondo added five points and five assists with Rudy Gay scoring seven.

The second consisted of a lot of scoring runs. New Orleans started it off with a 6-0 run, 9-0 continuing from the first quarter. But the Kings were able to hit a 9-0 run of their own. Again, the Pelicans scored 5 straight to take a 44-40 lead.

Sacramento once again answered with an 11-0 run to lead 51-44. Jrue Holiday stopped the run with a lay up but the Kings kept their scoring up. The Pelicans turnovers really cost them. Their 15 first half turnovers led to 18 Kings’ points. The Kings largest lead in the quarter was 15 and Sacramento would hold a 63-50 lead heading into the locker room.

Cousins held a game high with 23 points in the first quarter and tallied nine rebounds. The Kings shot at 54.2% in the half as they dominate the second quarter with their uptempo offense.

The third quarter is where things changed. Pelicans’ head coach Alvin Gentry picked up a technical before the third started. Gay hit the free throw for a 14 point lead before any time came off the clock.

Anthony Davis was dominate and chipped away at the Kings’ early 17 point lead. Davis kept the Pelicans right in the game in the third and the score was 89-83 after three. Cousins was once again phenomenal but Sacramento had seven turnovers in the third, which led to eight Pelicans’ points. The turnovers allowed the Pelicans to hang around even after the Kings had been up by so much.

The Pelicans started the final quarter with a 6-0 run to tie it up at 89. The Kings answered right back with an 8-0 run to go back up, 97-89. Sacramento was unable to figure out a way to close out the resilient Pelicans. The turnovers cost Sacramento again as they gave the ball away seven more times in the fourth quarter.

Holiday was huge for the Pelicans with nine fourth quarter points. With a little under two and a half to play, the Kings had a 108-106 lead. Cousins knocked down a pair of shots at the charity stripe to go up 110-106. Davis had dunk to keep the game within two.

With a under a minute remaining, the Pelicans had the ball. The Kings left Dante Cunningham wide open for a three and the forward nailed the jumper. The Pelicans took the lead 111-110. Holiday came up big as he knocked down a shot after a Sacramento miss to put the lead up to three.

Out of the timeout with 12.8 to go, Gay was able to score a quick two. Cole was then fouled and made both free throws. Darren Collison rushed to bring the ball up court and lost it to Holiday who let time expire.

Cousins was his usual self, scoring 40 points and grabbing 16 boards. Rondo had a nice game with 18 points, 10 assists but the point guard had five turnovers. Gay added a double double as well with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The Kings shot the ball at a great 49.4 shooting percentage from the field but 24 total turnovers led to 22 points for New Orleans. Davis had 31 points and 10 rebounds. The backcourt duo of Cole and Holiday was key to the Pelicans success. Cole totaled 23 points and Holiday scored 20 while adding 10 assists for the double double.

After looking to have a sure win, the Kings will need to regroup and figure out how to close out games. This is the Kings’ second consecutive loss after losing to San Antonio on Saturday.

The Kings will take on the LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7 p.m. at Arco Arena.

Warriors drop Cavs, Extend home winning streak to 14 games

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AP Photo/Ben Margot

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Klay Thompson scored 24 points and Stephen Curry finished with 23 points, helping the Golden State Warriors win their 14th straight game at Oracle Arena with a 112-94 victory Friday night in front of the team’s 99th consectutive sellout.

The Warriors finished their six-game homestand 6-0, and have won sixth straight game overall. The last time Golden State went 6-0 on a homestand you got to go back to February of 1992.

“We got some big stops down the stretch when we needed them,” said Curry, who finished with 10 of the Warriors’ 35 assists with just one turnover. “We wanted to protect the basket and play solid defense.”

Marreese Speights scored 12 points, Harrison Barnes had 11, and Draymond Green nearly had a triple double, finishing with 10 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists.

Rookie Justin Holiday provided another spark off the bench, scoring 14 points in 18 minutes. Holiday scored 12 points off the bench in 28 minutes of action in Golden State’s 117-91 victory over Oklahoma City Monday night.

Golden State had trouble containing Cleveland in the first quarter, allowing the Cavs to shoot 52.2 percent from the floor on (12-for-23). Cleveland dominated the Warriors on the glass early, holding a 16-8 rebounding edge early before finishing with a 45-44 rebounding advantage.

The Cavaliers outscored the Warriors 18-0 on second chance points.

But Golden State turned to the run game, outscoring the Cavaliers 36-3 on fast break points, and holding the edge in points in the paint, 40-28.

Trailing 66-64 with 6:39 left in the third quarter, Golden State went on an 11-0 run to push their lead to 75-66, keyed by a Barnes’ dunk courtesy of a Green lob. From that point, Golden State never looked back.

Cleveland (19-18) played without forward LeBron James (sore left knee, lower back soreness)

J.R. Smith scored 12 of his game-high 27 points in the first quarter, Kyrie Irving finished with 23 points and six assists, and Kevin Love added 17 points and 14 rebounds for Cleveland.

Cleveland dropped to 1-6 without James this season.

“It wasn’t what I expected (6-0 at home), but it felt great to get back to who we are,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. “We play in front of great fans and the atmosphere is electric.”

Golden State have owned the Eastern Conference this season, improving to 12-0, the team’s best start against the Eastern Conference.

With the NBA’s best record at 29-5 and home record at 16-1, Golden State have played unselfish team basketball this season and those records show that this could be a very promising season in the Bay Area for the Warriors.

The Dubs don’t hit the court again until Tuesday, when they head to Utah, before returning to Oracle Arena Wednesday against Miami with a chance to make it 15 in a row which would tie the 1989-90 Warriors’ franchise mark.

Game Notes:

  • Former Warriors head coach Mark Jackson called the game for ESPN. Jackson, who was fired at the end of last season, was greeted by several members of the Warriors and received a standing ovation from the home crowd. Jackson went 121-109, with two playoff appearances (1 postseason series win) in three seasons manning the bench for Golden State.
  • Stephen Curry’s “Curry 1’s” basketball shoe from Under Armour made their debut.
  • Klay Thompson left midway through the third quarter with a gash to his forehead. Thompson would return to the game in the fourth.

Warriors can’t overcome LeBron’s greatness, lose nail biter 111-110

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By Gabe Schapiro

The Golden State Warriors (31-22) lost a heartbreaker to the Miami Heat (37-14), 111-110, Wednesday night, at Oracle Arena. The Warriors looked horrible early before storming back and making a game of it. It eventually became the LeBron James and Stephen Curry show, in an epic duel of greatness. After beating Miami on their home turf last time these squads faced off, tonight the Heat exacted some revenge. James hit a last second three-pointer to stun the Golden State faithful, icing the victory for Miami.

For much of the early going the Warriors offense looked hopeless. They came out of the gate cold, and for a time it looked like they might lose a blowout. However, they rose to the occasion, and pushed back against the defending champions.

Golden State trailed by as many as 21-points, a few minutes into the third quarter. Thanks in large part to Curry and some impressive paly from Harrison Barnes on the bench, the Warriors began mounting a comeback. They went on a 20-2 run, and crawled all the way back to take the lead on a Curry three seconds into the fourth.

The momentum swung back in the Heat’s favor, who re-took the lead and held it for much of the quarter. With 47 seconds left, Curry nailed a 15-foot jumper to tie it up. Then he struck again, making an impressive lay-up in traffic with just 14 seconds remaining, which turned into a three-point play, giving the Warriors the 110-108 lead.

In their final possession Miami predictably went to James, who had been on fire all game. Andre Iguodala stuck with him, but the King couldn’t be stopped. He nailed a deep, fade-away trey with just 0.2 seconds left, lifting the Heat to victory.

Curry was the obvious standout for the Dubs. He scored a team-high 29 points on just 14 shots, to go along with seven assists and five rebounds. David Lee contributed a double-double, posting 21 points and 11 boards. Barnes was big off the bench, compiling 14 points and five rebounds. Draymond Green started in the place of Andrew Bogut once again, and filled up the stat sheet. He added eight points, eight boards, two steals, and three blocks.

For the Heat, the unstoppable James finished one assist shy of a triple-double. He finished with a game-high 36 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists. Chris Bosh had 19 points and five boards. Michael Beasley and Norris Cole had good games off the bench, contributing 16 and 10 points respectively.

Despite the loss, the Warriors did well to come-back from such a large deficit against one of the league’s best teams. It wasn’t the positive note they were hoping for heading into the All Star break, but there were positives to be found. They’re back in action on Wednesday, February 19, when they’ll be traveling to Sacramento to take on the Kings.

Curry, Lee lead Warriors past Heat for 7th straight win

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

MIAMI, FL — Stephen Curry had a game-high 36 points, while David Lee added 32 points and 14 rebounds as the Golden State Warriors picked up their seventh straight win, outdueling the Miami Heat 123-114 Thursday night.

Curry was read hot all night, shooting 13 for 22 from the field, including 8 for 15 from 3-point range helping Golden State (21-13) improve to 3-0 on their current seven-game road trip. Curry also dished out 12 assists.

Klay Thompson scored 16 points and Harrison Barnes added 15 points for the Dubs, who currently have the longest win streak in the league. Golden State shot 56 percent from the field, including 15 of 29 from beyond the arc.

LeBron James finished with 26 points,  while Dwyane Wade chipped in 22 points for Miami (24-8), which had all five starters finishing with double figures. Miami has lost just two games at home to Western Conference teams since the start of last season, both to the Warriors.

Chris Bosh scored 19 points, Mario Chalmers finished with 17 and Shane Battier had 11 for the Heat.

Golden State held a 40-31 rebounding edge over Miami.

The Warriors look to remain run their win streak to eight games Friday in Atlanta.

Kings Surprise Heat in OT 108-103

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

Image

Photo credit: Rocky Widner

By Charlie O. Mallonee

“The Big Show” came to town in Sacramento on Friday night when the Miami Heat played the Sacramento Kings. The sellout crowd was there to see LeBron, Bosh and company, and by the way the Kings as well. By the end of the night, the Kings and not the defending World Champions were the stars of the show.

The Sacramento Kings defeated the Miami Heat 108-103 in overtime at Sleep Train Arena. If you watched the game at the arena or on TV, you know that after the first quarter the final result was not foreseeable. The Kings trailed the Heat 32-19 after one quarter. You could literally feel the air leaving the building as 17,317 fans sat back preparing for another loss.

The Kings did show a little life when the second unit hit the floor. The second unit stayed on the floor to start the second quarter and the tempo of the Kings improved. Quincy Acy scored 8 points and Travis Outlaw added four. When the starters returned to the game, they appeared to have renewed energy. The Kings went on to win the quarter 26-23.

The Heat led the Kings 55-45 at the half, but there was something different about the Heat in that second period. They stopped attacking the rim and began shooting long shots, but they were only hitting 37.5% from beyond the arc. The Heat had changed their approach to the game.

The Heat came out in the third quarter playing as they had late in the first half. Miami attempted long 2- pointers and 3-pointers. The Heat’s shots were falling just short, and they appeared to be tired. Miami shot just 27.8% (5-18) from the field in the third.

While the Heat were missing shots, the Kings began making shots. The Sacramento starting five played the entire third quarter. Rudy Gay put up 11 points, Cousins scored seven, Jason Thompson added six while Isaiah Thomas hit five points. The Kings field goal percentage was 68.8% (11-16). Sacramento outscored Miami 29-18. After three quarters, the Kings led 74-73.

The fourth quarter proved to be a slug fest. Neither team shot particularly well. The Kings lead turned into a six point Heat lead with 6:31 left in the game. The Kings kept battling back and tied the game at 89 all on a Rudy Gay 14 foot jumper. LeBron James had a chance to win the game for Miami but missed a 25 foot jumper at the buzzer. An extra five minutes would be needed to decide a winner.

The Kings scored first in overtime on a Rudy Gay 24 foot 3-pointer and they would never trail again in the game. Sacramento led by as many as eight points, but LeBron James was not going to allow the Kings to cruise to a win. James had a three point play the old fashion way and two 3-pointers in OT, but it was not enough to stop the Kings from winning the game 108-103.

Isaiah Thomas scored seven points in overtime while Gay and Cousins added five points each and Marcus Thornton recorded two. LeBron James led the Heat with 11 points in OT.

The victory was just the Kings first win in the last 11 games versus the Heat. The Kings improve to 9-19 on the season while Miami falls to 22-7.

The Kings big three led the way to victory. DeMarcus Cousins recorded his 16th double-double with 27 points and 17 rebounds. Rudy Gay hit for 26 points with 20 of those points coming in the second half. Isaiah Thomas posted a double-double with 22 points and 11 assists.

LeBron James led all scorers in the game with 33 points. Chris Bosh scored 18. Mario Chalmers had a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists.

The Kings defense held the Heat to just a 44.2% (38-88) field goal shooting percentage. The Heat shot just 34.4% (11-32) for 3-pointers. Sacramento out-rebounded Miami 51-36 for the game.

The key to the win was the Kings ability to score in paint while stopping Miami from doing the same. The Kings scored 60 points in the paint while the Heat scored just 38 in the paint.

The Kings will have to remember that they beat the Heat while Dwyane Wade, Ray Allen and Chris Andersen were kept out of the game. That is not to say it was not a legitimate victory, but the Heat did beat the Lakers on Christmas Day with those three players in the lineup.

After the game, Head Coach Michael Malone had some thoughts on his team’s comeback after giving up 32 points in the first quarter: “I want to give a lot of credit to our second unit. We started out that game tonight by being down 17 points and our starting group didn’t have the best start in the world. The second unit came in and got us back in the game. Quincy Acy brought effort and energy. We cut the 17 point deficit to 10 and kept it competitive. We’ve been preaching defense, and I know we haven’t played a lot of it this year, but tonight I thought that the guys really bought in after that 32 point first quarter. We did a great job the rest of the game, really up until the last minute of overtime when LeBron James went crazy and we kept giving him open looks. I’m very proud of everybody in that locker room: starters, guys on the bench – everybody contributed.”

The Kings will not have any time to savor this victory as they must head out on a two game road trip in Texas. Sacramento will face San Antonio on Sunday and Houston on Tuesday.