Domantas Sabonis swished a short put-back in the lane with 0.7 seconds left as the Sacramento Kings defeated the host Miami Heat 111-110 on Monday night.
After Sabonis’ rebound and basket off a De’Aaron Fox miss, Miami called timeout. On the other end, Terry Rozier missed a hurried 35-foot shot.
Fox led Sacramento with a 28 points, and DeMar DeRozan added 26. Sabonis had 16 points and game highs in rebounds (16) and assists (seven). Keegan Murray logged 14 points, and Malik Monk had 12.
Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro each scored 27 points for Miami while Bam Adebayo contributed 16 points and nine boards. Butler put up 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Miami’s Pelle Larsson, a rookie second-round pick, scored a career-high 13 points, and Rozier added 10.
Kevin Huerter, a Kings starter, missed his second straight game due to an illness.
Both teams were coming off games outside the U.S. on Saturday — the Kings lost in overtime at Toronto, while the Heat beat the Washington Wizards in Mexico City.
In the first quarter, Herro made 4 of 5 3-point attempt, putting up 13 points as the Heat took a 25-22 lead. There were six ties and four lead changes in that period, during which Sacramento shot just 1-for-5 from beyond the arc.
Larsson scored 12 points in the second quarter on perfect shooting: 4-for-4 from the floor, 3-for-3 on 3-point attempts and 1-for-1 at the free-throw line.
That shooting helped the Heat stretch their lead to 61-48 at halftime. DeRozan led the Kings with 11 second-quarter points, giving him 15 in the half.
Sacramento outscored Miami 37-17 in the third quarter, finishing the period on a 17-4 run. Fox had 16 points in the period — one fewer than the entire Heat squad.
Then came the fourth-quarter drama.
With 1:11 left, DeRozan made a four-point play — Herro fouled him on a made 3-pointer — to cut Miami’s lead to 108-107.
Then after Herro missed a short jumper and DeRozan grabbed the rebound. DeRozan tried for a mid-range jumper at the other end, but Herro stripped him with 37.8 seconds left.
Herro followed by sinking two free throws, but a Monk dunk with 32.2 seconds cut Miami’s lead to 110-109.
On the following possession, Butler missed a contested turnaround jumper, and Sacramento got the ball and called timeout with 9.1 seconds left.
That set it up for Fox’s miss and the rebound and swish by Sabonis.
–Field Level Media
