Kings Close With Flourish, Top Heat

By ESPN

Forgetting De'Aaron Fox is a mistake that Miami will remember.

Fox's rebound dunk with 3 seconds left capped a huge closing rally by the Sacramento Kings, who erased a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit to stun the Heat 89-88 on Thursday night.

It was Sacramento's first win at Miami since 2001, and the Kings closed it with a 17-4 run in the final 5:46.

"I just went to crash the glass and I just showed my athleticism," Fox said.

Buddy Hield scored 24 points for Sacramento, which got 14 from Fox, 11 from Bogdan Bogdanovic and 10 from Zach Randolph. The Kings improved to 4-26 all-time at Miami.

"Not a pretty game, but we played really hard," Kings coach Dave Joerger said. "Both teams kind of had to grind it out so it's a good win for us at a place we don't get a lot of wins."

Goran Dragic scored 23 points for Miami, and he was the only Heat starter to finish in double figures. Wayne Ellington had 20 and Justise Winslow added 11 for the Heat -- who used an 11-0 run to take a 12-point lead midway through the fourth.

Miami gave the game away in the fourth, and fell apart in the final moments. Hassan Whiteside fouled out with 21 seconds left while trying to set a screen for Dragic, and the Kings -- down one -- decided to run the clock down as much as they could on the ensuing possession. Bogdanovic missed a jumper, and all the Heat had to do was secure one last rebound.

It didn't happen.

Fox wasn't boxed out by anyone, so he had an unimpeded lane to the rim. There were three Heat players nearby -- Dragic jumped for the rebound, Bam Adebayo and James Johnson never left the floor, and even if they had it probably wouldn't have mattered since Fox timed his leap perfectly to catch and slam home what became the game-winner.

"We didn't get a blockout and we didn't jump," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "That probably summed up the evening as much as anything. One guy went for it and the rest of us spectated. That's not how you win NBA games."

Miami's Josh Richardson missed a wild jumper as time expired, the capper to his 2-for-13 shooting night. His teammates weren't much better: The Heat shot 38 percent, compared with 47 percent by the Kings.

"Couldn't get stops," Dragic lamented.

Kings guard George Hill did not play. He's been prominent in trade rumors in recent days, with reports suggesting that Sacramento and Cleveland are discussing a deal that could send the veteran to the Cavaliers.

Thursday, January 25 Scoreboard

Sacramento 89, Miami 88

Oklahoma City 121, Washington 112

Denver 130, New York 118

Golden State 126, Minnesota 113

Friday, January 26 Schedule (All Times Central)

Atlanta at Charlotte, 6 p.m.

Indiana at Cleveland, 6:30 p.m.

Utah at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.

Los Angeles Lakers at Chicago, 7 p.m.

Los Angeles Clippers at Memphis, 7 p.m.

Brooklyn at Milwaukee, 7 p.m.

Houston at New Orleans, 7 p.m.

Portland at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

Philadelphia at San Antonio, 7:30 p.m.

New York at Phoenix, 8 p.m.

Saturday, January 27 Schedule (All Times Central)

Oklahoma City at Detroit, 4 p.m.

Orlando at Indiana, 6 p.m.

Washington at Atlanta, 6:30 p.m.

Charlotte at Miami, 6:30 p.m.

Boston at Golden State, 7:30 p.m.

Brooklyn at Minnesota, 8 p.m.

Dallas at Denver, 8 p.m.

Sunday January 28 Schedule (All Times Central)

Milwaukee at Chicago, 2:30 p.m.

Phoenix at Houston, 2:30 p.m.

Los Angeles Clippers at New Orleans, 3 p.m.

Detroit at Cleveland, 5 p.m.

Los Angeles Lakers at Toronto, 5 p.m.

Philadelphia at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m.

Sacramento at San Antonio, 6 p.m.