Heat rally falls short in loss to Sacramento Kings: Takeaways and details

Takeaways from the Heat’s 119-113 loss on Saturday in Sacramento, dropping Miami to 2-5:

▪ Tyler Herro was very good - and the other starters made contributions - in helping the Heat erase all but one point of a 22-point halftime deficit. But Miami never could never fully escape the hole that it dug itself in the first half.

Herro scored seven in the third quarter and 15 in the fourth to rally Miami from a huge deficit.

A Jimmy Butler basket pulled Miami to within 101-100 with 6:15 left.

From there, Miami couldn’t get enough baskets or enough stops.

Herro missed two jumpers - one was blocked - and Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes scored on the other end to build the Kings’ lead back to 10.

Herro had a ferocious dunk off a miss to pull the Heat to within 110-104 before De’Aaron Fox and Bam Adebayo traded baskets.

Kyle Lowry’s two free throws pulled the Heat to within 116-110 with 1:48 left but Holmes made a free throw.

After a successful coach’s challenge by Erik Spoelstra gave the Heat the ball, Bam Adebayo made only one of two free throws with 56 seconds to go and Max Strus hit a layup.

But Strus missed a three with the Heat down 117-113 and 24 seconds left and Kevin Huerter hit two free throws to push the Kings’ lead to six with 14 seconds to go. Herro then missed a three, and that settled matters.

“You had to use so much energy to get back, last couple minutes. You can definitely tell [it ran out],” Lowry said.

At least Miami showed a pulse after falling behind 71-49 at the break.

Herro drove to the basket for two layups and hit a jumper during a 21-7 run to open the third quarter. And he was brilliant during the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, finishing the night 13 for 22 from the field and 5 for 8 on threes.

Martin’s energy and activity on both ends gave the Heat a lift during that initial third-quarter run.

Lowry scored 11 (with two steals) during that third quarter after a largely inconsequential two-point first half. He finished with 15 points and four assists.

Adebayo played very well offensively on this trip and sank several jumpers, finishing with 23 points on 9 for 16 shooting before fouling out with five seconds left. His most impressive moment was a rim-rattling jam of a Martin miss.

Butler (13 points) had seven rebounds and six assists on a night he was off with his shot (4 for 11).

But the Heat picked up five fouls in the first 2:57 of the fourth quarter, including three by Strus - which left them at a disadvantage for the duration of the quarter.

One of those fouls was ruled a Flagrant 1 against Strus, and the Kings made the free throws, kept possession and scored again to push their lead to 12 before the Heat pulled as close as one.

“It’s always tough to win when you put a team in the bonus early,” Butler said.

▪ The first half was dismal, displaying all of Miami’s early-season deficiencies.

Miami entered 18th in defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions), 24th in offensive rating and 28th in rebounds, looking nothing like the bunch that fell one win short of an NBA Finals appearance less than six months ago.

Those deficiencies - combined with an odd lack of energy early - were all on display in the first half against a team that entered winless, at 0-4.

The Kings were seemingly running a layup line at times before intermission on Saturday, scoring 36 of their 71 - 71! - first-half points in paint, many in the basket area off pinpoint passes against flat-footed defenders.

Miami also was left at a deficit on defensive switches, with wings often matched up with 6-11 center Domantas Sabonis.

And then, when the Kings started draining threes (9 of 20 in the first half), Miami was thoroughly overwhelmed defensively.

“That’s been a trend; our starts defensively and our disposition in transition and protecting the paint wasn’t at a level necessary to win,” Spoelstra said.

Kevin Huerter (27 points) drained seven of the Kings’ 14 three-pointers. Rookie Keegan Murray (22 points) sank three others.

The Kings played much of the second half with center Sabonis, who seized on the Heat’s switching defense and repeatedly capitalized on mismatches during an 18 point first half, then fouled out with five minutes left in the game.

“They are one of the best first half teams,” Lowry said. “We didn’t match that intensity in the first half. They dominated the paint in the first half. We didn’t get back well enough early in the game. They were pushing every time we scored. You could hear their coach saying, Go! Go! Go!”

▪ Rebounding and rim deterrence remain an issue.

Two nights after being crushed on the boards (50-31) by Golden State, the Heat was outrebounded, 43 to 34.

No Heat player had more than seven boards. Kings 6-3 point guard De’Aaron Fox led Sacramento with 13 rebounds.

The Heat, operating at a size deficit nearly every game, needs its wings to crash the boards. But that hasn’t happened nearly enough.

The Heat averages just 2.8 blocks; they’re the only team in the league below three per game. The Heat blocked three shots on Saturday; the Kings swatted away six.

Miami now sits at 2-5, its worst start since the 2016-17 team opened 2-8 and went 11-30 in the first half before stampeding to a 30-11 record in the second half to finish .500.

“We are going to improve,” Spoelstra said. “It’s very close. I have some time. We’re not in a panic.”

But then he emphasized that the team must defend better - especially in the first half - and stop taking as many quick shots.

“We took some quick shots that got us in trouble,” he said. “Right now, this is about the collective group, how are we going to impact this thing together to impact winning.”

▪ With Dewayne Dedmon and Omer Yurtseven out, Spoelstra gave early minutes to Udonis Haslem initially, and later, to rookie Nikola Jovic.

Haslem had appeared in just 4, 1 and 13 games over the previous three seasons, then made his 2022-23 season debut with two minutes to close out a comfortable win against Portland on Tuesday.

Haslem, 42, still has his sweet turnaround jumper, hitting one of them and missing another. He finished with three points and one rebound in eight minutes.

Spoestra said he went to Haslem to “give us a little bit more of an interior defender, particularly against Sabonis. I thought UD’s minutes were good, inspiring. He was throwing his body all over the place. We need a lot more of that.”

Jovic got just 50 seconds in the first half, then didn’t play in the second half.

Dedmon missed the game with an upper respiratory infection after missing the Golden State game with plantar fasciitis.

Yurtseven has been sidelined since early in preseason with an ankle injury.

▪ Heat culture was a popular topic before the game.

Asked 90 minutes before tipoff what Heat culture means to him, Kings coach Mike Brown said: “What they have, everybody is all in. They have nobody trying to stray. When you have buy in with belief, knowing the foundation is hard work, great things can happen for a long time.”

But not at the moment.

Spoelstra said it’s at the point now that “even agents know who will thrive in our environment and who is better off looking at somebody else [another team to play].”

In fact, when an agent mentions a client to the Heat, Spoelstra said the organization will evaluate and ask “Would this player fit?” If the answer is “no, then we will try to help them [find] somewhere else.”

As Spoelstra said: “We have an idea of people who will embrace what we’re about. We’re not for everybody and I say that humbly. Everyone is on the same page about what kind of player we’re looking for.”

At this point, off to a 2-5 start, those players haven’t been enough. But acquiring outside upgrades will be challenging, with the Heat’s trade assets limited; Herro essentially cannot be traded until July, even if the Heat wanted to.

And Dedmon and injured Victor Oladipo - whose contracts could help facilitate a trade - cannot be dealt until Jan. 15. The Heat’s other players earning enough to facilitate a trade – aside from Butler and Adebayo – have limited trade value.

“Roles are different,” Butler said. “We’ll figure this out, just like we will figure out everything else. It’s not going to be all good all the time. It’s not going to be all bad either. We’re going to stay together through the thick and thin no matter what and end up on the right side of this thing when all is said and done.”