Heat snaps seven-game losing streak, beats Sacramento: Details and takeaways

Takeaways from the Heat’s 115-106 win against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday at Kaseya Center, a victory that snapped Miami’s seven-game losing streak:

▪ The Heat played with the type of energy, spirit, defensive verve, offensive connectivity and overall intensity that was often lacking during the losing streak.

All of that paid off early; Jimmy Butler, Kevin Love and Josh Richardson sparked a first half surge that left the Heat up, 49-31.

All of that paid off again when the Heat unleashed a Butler-led 23-10 run after falling behind by three points early in the third quarter.

And all of it paid off once more when the Heat stretched a six-point lead to 11 early in the fourth, thanks to Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo and others, and then rode Butler home to a win.

The Heat led 59-55 at the half (its first halftime lead in nine games) and took a 90-84 advantage into the fourth quarter and never relinquished the lead from there.

Along the way, the Heat set a season high with 38 assists. The Heat originally thought it finished with a franchise record 40 assists, before the final box score was adjusted to reflect the lower total.

“For one day, it feels great,” Erik Spoelstra said. “The group poured a lot into each other, into solutions. I commend the group. In this day and age, it’s tough to do that.”

Butler came out with an aggressive bent, finishing the first quarter with nine points, five rebounds and two assists. Then he gave the Heat a needed lift with 12 third quarter points on 4 for 5 shooting, including 10 points in a row that turned a three-point deficit into a seven-point lead.

And after the Kings drew to within six with under six minutes left, Butler hit a jumper, then shook free in transition, was fouled and hit two free throws.

Butler finished with 31 points on 10 for 14 shooting after scoring 28 against the Knicks on Saturday and 26 against Phoenix on Monday. And he added seven rebounds and six assists. What pleased him most was the team’s defensive bent.

“That’s the way we want to play, the way we’ve won games since I’ve been here,” he said. “We guarded. We were in the gym having fun.”

Richardson scored 13 in the second quarter, then hit a three to push Miami’s lead to 13 with 4:27 left. He finished with 24 points - his most in his second tour with the Heat - plus five rebounds and three assists.

Adebayo hit four consecutive shots after an 0 for 4 start and finished with 16 points on 8 for 14 shooting, 11 rebounds and 4 assists.

Herro had an efficient and effective night, with two important second-half three pointers, 14 points overall, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, including three dynamic passes to Adebayo for dunks, as those two operated rhythmically on the pick and roll.

And even though Terry Rozier shot just 1 for 8 on a 3-point night, he had 10 assists and just one turnover. His first basket, a three, put the Heat ahead 90-80 late in the third.

The Heat, which shot 50 percent from the field, had 38 assists on its 42 baskets - a sign of the increased connectivity that Spoelstra sought.

“Tyler and Terry set the tone with that,” Spoelstra said. “They were assertive and aggressive and making the right play. We had more assists and lob passes to Bam than we probably had in the last three weeks.”

Several of those assists were particularly snazzy passes, including the Love-to-Butler connection for a dunk, those three pinpoint lobs from Herro to Adebayo for dunks and a nifty Adebayo pass to Jaime Jaquez Jr. for a layup.

The Heat recorded its 1500th win in franchise history, avoided falling to .500 overall and .500 at home and survived 33 points from Keegan Murray (who scored 21 in the first half) and a triple double from Domantas Sabonis (19 points, 17 rebounds, 13 assists).

De’Aaron Fox, who entered averaging 27.5 points per game, scored only 13 on 4 for 16 shooting.

Miami (25-23) again made ample - and often effective - use of zone defense, which Adebayo identified Tuesday as the Heat’s best defensive scheme this season. According to Heat.com’s Couper Moorhead, the Heat allowed 0.73 points per possession with its zone (37 possessions) and 1.04 points per possession during the 48 possessions it played man defense.

Sacramento scored well under its 118.4 points per game average, which ranks ninth in the league.

▪ Three-point shooting, a problem for Miami at both ends during this losing streak, was a Heat positive on Wednesday.

Miami opened 7 for 9 on threes on its way to finishing 13 for 28 (46.4 percent). Richardson shot 6 for 10 on threes; Herro, Butler and Love each hit two threes.

Meanwhile, the Kings opened 3 for 12 on threes and closed 12 for 40 (30 percent). Fox shot 1 for 8 on threes and Harrison Barnes shot 0 for 6.

During the losing streak, the Heat had been outscored by 87 points from the three-point line, a byproduct of Miami shooting 35 percent on threes over these seven games while opponents shot 46 percent.

▪ Thanks to Love and others, the Heat survived Adebayo’s early foul trouble. And Adebayo bounced back from what began as another tough shooting night.

Adebayo left 3:16 into the game with his second foul and didn’t return until the start of the second quarter.

But Thomas Bryant was competent during the first three minutes of Adebayo’s absence and Love then made a big impact, blocking Sabonis at the rim, then feeding Butler for a dunk and then sinking a three. Love then added another three during a key third-quarter stretch.

Adebayo opened 0 for 4 but seized on several great passes from teammates, then hit a foul line jump shot to push Miami’s fourth quarter lead to 11.

Adebayo - who entered with 6911 career points - surpassed Chris Bosh for fifth on the Heat’s all-time scoring list.

He opened 0 for 3 on midrange jumpers on Wednesday, making him 7 for 45 on such shots in January. But his teammates then worked to get him easier shots, and Adebayo got untracked.

▪ Even with Duncan Robinson in concussion protocol, the Heat’s reserves had a decided advantage against a Kings bench featuring perpetual Heat tormentor Malik Monk.

With Richardson scoring 16 in the first half, Miami went to the break with a 31-9 edge in bench points. The margin was 47-18 by the end of the night.

Richardson punctuated his night with eight points in the fourth and closed 9 for 15 from the field on his 24-point night.

“My shot felt good,” said Richardson, who admitted he was late for shootaround on Wednesday. “Once I got going, I let it fly.”

Jaquez, in his third game back from a groin injury, looked more like himself, driving to the basket several times and contributing eight points and four rebounds.

Caleb Martin (seven points) chipped in one of his patented drive-the-baseline reverse layups, then hit another high-degree-of-difficulty shot (and a free throw off a foul) to start the fourth quarter.

Love scored eight, with three rebounds and three assists in 14 productive minutes.

As for Monk, he scored just six points and missed all four of his three-point attempts. He entered averaging 13.9 points against Miami (his third highest scoring average against any opponent) and shooting 45.3 percent on threes in 14 career games against the Heat.

The Heat played without Robinson; he took a hard fall and his head snapped back and hit the court on Saturday against the Knicks. He felt OK at the time and didn’t report any symptoms on Sunday, Spoelstra said.

But delayed symptoms kicked in when he started playing Monday against the Suns; he left the game for good at halftime after missing his only shot in four first-half minutes.

“During the beginning of the [Phoenix] game, he felt a little off,” Spoelstra said. “We’re at the beginning of the [concussion protocol] process. We’re glad we caught it.”

Sharpshooting wing Cole Swider, on a two-way contract, flew in from South Dakota - where he was playing for the Heat’s G-League team - and was active for Wednesday’s game but did not play.

▪ A few things involving the Heat, regarding All Star weekend and the immediate aftermath, are happening this week.

On Thursday night, Adebayo will learn if he will make the All Star team for the third time. He was named to the roster in 2020 and 2023.

Butler has an outside chance to make his seventh All Star game.

The full rosters will be revealed at 7 p.m. on TNT; the Heat does not have a starter in the Feb. 18 All Star Game in Indianapolis.

Meanwhile, Jaquez Jr. will compete in the Rising Stars competition on Friday night, Feb. 16 and is expected to be in the slam dunk contest on Feb. 17.

Regarding the Rising Stars event, Jaquez said Wednesday:

“I know a lot of great players have been through that game. So just to be a part of that and be able to participate is an honor. From my memory, it was Dion Waiters and Tim Hardaway Jr. going back and forth in the [2014] Rising Stars. It was basically like a one-on-one game.”

Also Wednesday, the Heat learned that its first game after the All Star break, Feb. 23 at New Orleans, was removed from ESPN’s schedule and replaced by Milwaukee-Minnesota. The Heat-Pelicans game was then shifted from 10 to 8 p.m. Eastern Time and will be televised on Bally Sports Sun.

ESPN/ABC will move forward with plans to carry Heat home games on the next two Sundays, at 6 p.m. Sunday against the Clippers on ESPN and at 2 p.m. Super Bowl Sunday against Boston on ABC.

First up, before the Clippers game, is a Friday night game in Washington.

“We got in the locker room and worked through solutions,” Spoelstra said. “It sure feels a lot better” than 24 hours earlier.