Miami Heat ends seven-game losing streak and Sacramento Kings’ four-game winning streak

Sacramento’s four-game winning streak ended Wednesday when the Kings ran into a desperate team in South Beach.

The Miami Heat beat the Kings 115-106 on Wednesday at the Kaseya Center, handing them their first loss since Jan. 18 against the Indiana Pacers.

Jimmy Butler scored 31 points to help the Heat end its seven-game losing streak. Josh Richardson added 24 points while Bam Adebayo notched 16 points and 11 rebounds.

The Kings were paced by a big night from second-year forward Keegan Murray and another triple-double from Domantas Sabonis. De’Aaron Fox had an off night, finishing with 13 points on 4-of-16 shooting.

Miami appeared to have more energy given the desperation surrounding the team’s recent slide. The Heat’s typically stout defense had a rating of 121.2 during the skid. Miami appeared to tighten things up against Sacramento, throwing a mix of zone and regular man-to-man defenses at Fox and Co., who indicated afterwards his team’s offensive issues were as simple as missing shots.

“We got a couple wide-open looks,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “The reality of it is, Keegan was the only one that shot the 3-ball well.”

Murray made seven of his 11 shots from distance while the rest of the Kings made just 5 of 29 (17%). The Heat were far more efficient by making 13 of their 28 from long range. Miami’s bench outscored Sacramento’s 47-18.

“(Our defense) was OK because there were times that we had a tag or had to help and they just made the right pass, they made the right play,” Brown said. “They kept the game real simple at that end of the floor. They just moved it to the open guy.”

The Kings are in the middle of a seven-game road trip, their longest of the season, which began last week at Golden State and continued in Dallas and Memphis, before a day off in South Florida on Tuesday. The Kings struggled from the floor for the third straight game on the trip, shooting just 44% after making 44% of their shots Saturday in Dallas and 38% Monday in Memphis.

“I definitely think we were just missing some shots,” Fox said. “I think we got a lot of good open looks, quality looks, and they just didn’t go down.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was passionate about his team ending its seven-game losing streak, the longest since he became coach in 2008. He charged on to the court and was demonstrative in challenging a goal-tending call against Josh Richardson on a Kevin Huerter layup with 11:08 left. It led to the loudest moment of the night from the home crowd.

Spoelstra pointed at referee Ed Malloy and demonstrated Richardson pinning the ball against the glass. The challenge was successful, and underpinned Miami’s fervor to end the losing streak. The Heat had been free falling in the Eastern Conference standings after reaching the NBA Finals last year, entering the night in the No. 7 spot, 2 ½ games back of an automatic playoff berth.

Despite the downturn, Brown knew beforehand his team would be in for a tough game against the defending conference champions.

“I don’t even look at them like (they’ve lost seven straight) because Spo is a fantastic coach, they have great players (and) they’ve been through the ringer,” Brown said before the game. “They have one of the toughest dudes in the league in Jimmy Butler, not just physically but also mentally. And they can go on a run of 15 straight at any given time.”

Sabonis’ first point didn’t come until he made a layup at the 5:17 mark in the second quarter. He began the game missing his first four shots and two free throws. Miami’s lead ballooned to as many as 18 before Sacramento went on a 7-0 run to trim it to 11.

“In the first quarter, everyone in general, we weren’t ready to play,” Sabonis said. “And it definitely showed, especially on the offensive end. We didn’t make the reads like we usually do. They played in a zone most of the game. ... We just couldn’t knock them down and that was the difference, I feel like.”

Sabonis has recorded 17 career triple-doubles with at least 15 rebounds, passing Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, who each had 16, for the fifth most in league history. He finished with 19 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists.

Murray scored 21 points in 18 first-half minutes, hitting five of Sacramento’s six 3s before the break. It marked the fourth time since entering the league he scored 20 in a half and the sixth time he had at least five 3s in a half. Murray finished with 31 points.

“I feel like the basket looked big tonight, so I just kept shooting,” Murray said.

Fox set a new career high with 120 3-point goals in a single season on a pull-up jumper from 27 feet early in the third quarter. Wednesday was Fox’s 40th game of the season. His previous high came last season when he made 119 3-pointers in 73 games.

Also in the third quarter, Sabonis extended his streak of double-doubles to 29, tying Oscar Robinson for the longest single-season streak and the second-longest overall streak in franchise history. Robertson owns the longest overall streak at 31 games spanning the 1960-61 and 1961-62 seasons.

Sabonis finished with his 13th triple-double of the season, one behind last season’s total of 14. It was the 45th triple-double of his career.

The Kings fell to 5-30 all-time in Miami, where they last won in 2018.

The Kings were without Sasha Vezenkov, who missed the last four games with a right ankle injury suffered against the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 22.

The Kings will conclude their road trip with three games in four nights, including a back-to-back Friday and Saturday against the Pacers and Chicago Bulls. The Kings will then visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday before returning to Golden 1 Center to play the struggling Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.

Upcoming schedule

Feb. 2 at Indiana Pacers

Feb. 3 at Chicago Bulls

Feb. 5 at Cleveland Cavaliers

Feb. 7 vs. Detroit Pistons

Feb. 9 vs. Denver Nuggets