Kings lose heartbreaker to Heat

Sacramento finishes 2-1 in Florida on its road trip.

The Sacramento Kings were oh so close to winning their fourth-straight game.

Richaun Holmes’ 18-foot jumper at the buzzer was blocked by Bam Adebayo, giving the Miami Heat a 105-104 win over the Kings.

Sacramento put itself in a position to win the game on the final possession after trailing by six with just over four minutes left in the game. De’Aaron Fox was a big reason why the Kings stayed in it.

He scored 17 out of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to seal the win. Sacramento couldn’t recover from a rough third quarter that saw the team outscored 27-18 over the 12 minutes.

Jimmy Butler’s layup with 42 seconds left wound up being the winning bucket. Fox had an opportunity to put the Kings back in front with 25 seconds on the clock but wound up missing from in close.

Sacramento went cold shooting from beyond the arc in the second half. The Kings hit just five-of-24 attempts from the 3-point line over the final 24 minutes after connecting on 57.1% of their attempts in the first half.

After missing 10 games due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols, Butler returned to the lineup and led Miami with 30 points while Bam Adebayo finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

The officiating also didn’t help. Sacramento went just five-of-11 at the free-throw line, while Miami went 22-for-26 at the charity stripe. The Kings were visibly frustrated with the refs, with Fox getting hit with a technical early in the game.

Overall, Sacramento has played well on its road trip. After back-to-back contests against the Memphis Grizzlies were postponed due to the COVD-19 protocols, the team has gone 2-1 in Florida and showed progress on the defensive end.

The Kings fell to 8-11 on the season but will have an opportunity to finish the road trip with a win when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday.