The Miami Heat found their rhythm again Tuesday night, bouncing back in a big way with a 130-117 win over the Sacramento Kings. It was the second night of a tough West Coast back-to-back, but Miami didn’t play like a team short on rest-they played like a team with something to prove.
Leading the charge was Bam Adebayo, who turned the page on a rough outing against Golden State with a statement performance. Just 24 hours after scoring only 4 points on 1-for-13 shooting, Adebayo came out aggressive and efficient.
He poured in a game-high 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting, added 7 rebounds and 5 assists, and-perhaps most impressively-knocked down 4 of his 5 attempts from beyond the arc. That kind of shooting from your center is a game-changer, and it completely opened up the floor for Miami's offense.
After the game, Adebayo summed it up simply: “We could have made excuses about playing today, but guys buckled in, locked in, and we got the W.” And he wasn’t wrong. This was a locked-in Heat team from the jump.
Norman Powell continued his strong stretch of play, chipping in 22 points while shooting 50% from the field. His minutes, paired with Adebayo’s, proved especially valuable-Miami outscored Sacramento by a combined 26 points when those two were on the floor.
Andrew Wiggins also stayed hot, carrying over his shooting touch from the previous night in San Francisco. He finished with 19 points and gave Miami another reliable scoring option on the wing.
Meanwhile, Pelle Larsson quietly put together one of the most complete games of his young career. The second-year guard did a little bit of everything-16 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists on 7-of-9 shooting.
He’s quickly becoming one of those glue guys who makes the Heat tick, doing the dirty work while also contributing offensively.
Off the bench, Erik Spoelstra went five deep, tapping Jaime Jaquez Jr., Simone Fontecchio, Niko Jovic, Kasparas Jakucionis, and two-way player Myron Gardner for second-unit duty. Kel’el Ware was sidelined with a sore hamstring, which opened up more minutes for others. Jaquez and Fontecchio led the bench scoring effort, helping the reserves contribute a solid 42 points overall.
One notable absence from the rotation? Dru Smith.
The guard, who’s been a regular part of the bench unit this season, didn’t see the floor-likely a result of his recent shooting struggles. Spoelstra isn’t afraid to shake things up when needed, and this was one of those nights.
On the other side, Sacramento got scoring from their usual suspects-DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Russell Westbrook, and Malik Monk-but the Heat kept them from getting into any real rhythm. LaVine, who torched Miami for 42 points in their previous meeting back in December, was held to just 18 this time around. That’s a win in itself for Miami’s defense.
The Heat’s shooting numbers told the story. They hit 48% from the field and a scorching 50% from deep, while holding the Kings to just 37% from three. That kind of shooting disparity is hard to overcome, especially when Miami also took better care of the ball-winning the turnover battle 15 to 10.
With the win, Miami improves to 23-21 and will look to build on this momentum Thursday night in Portland. If this version of the Heat shows up again-locked in, balanced, and firing from deep-they’ll be a tough out for anyone.