Miami Heat roll over the Sacramento Kings for their eighth consecutive win
"Tonight we saw up close and personal how difficult it is to guard either one of those guys, let alone both of them in the same game". Sacramento Kings coach Paul Westphal said of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James after the
duo combined for 61 points, nine assist and 16 rebounds across the board, to hand a 104-83 blow-out defeat to his team.
Shooting at a prolific 51.9 percent, the Heat finally looked the team that Pat Riley, the Heats owner, had envisioned when he brought LeBron James and Chris Bosh into the Miami fold.
A little less than two weeks ago, the franchise from South Beach was under immense pressure having lost 4 of their 5. A crushing loss against the Dallas Mavericks prompted Erik Spoelstra to call a team meeting. That proved to be
the magic trick, as from that point onwards, the Heats never looked back and the win over the Kings means that they have now beaten their opponents in the last eight games by a double digit margin.
The Kings, who came into the match having lost 14 of the last 16 and languishing with a second-worst record in the NBA, were expected to offer little resistance to the Big Three and Co.
The Heats, boasting a bevy of feared perimeter shooters and blue collar players, faced some stiff challenges from the spirited Kings in the first half. They finally managed to break the deadlock courtesy a LeBron James special,
as he scored 14 points in the third quarter to effectively snatch the game from the Kings.
First Quarter
The game was tied thrice in the first four minutes as both teams struggled with their shooting early on. With the score at 6-4 in the favor of Miami, Beno Udrih nailed a jumper to spark a nine point, uncontested run which shot
the Kings to a 13-6 lead midway in the first quarter. The Heats taken aback by the sudden surge, however, responded and a James jump shot pulled them within three, 2:03 left in the frame.
The Kings however restored a seven point advantage going into the second quarter as Tyreke Evans drove a layup, 45 seconds from the buzzer, to make it 24-17.
Second Quarter
The Kings maintained their stranglehold on the match at the start of the second period, before Dwyane Wade unleashed a venomous assault on their stumbling defenses. With 9:43 left till the break, the Maverick guard slipped in a
free throw to start a 15 point unanswered rot that sprung the Heats into 37-29 lead.
The Kings though, were not in a mood to be bogged down as Omri Casspi ripped in two three pointers to spearhead an 8-0 surge that put them right back into the lead at 38-37. The Heat offense which was just starting to come to life
at that point rebounded vociferously, as they gave a sign of things by initiating a 10-4 late opening to lead at the half way mark by 47-42.
Third Quarter
The second half marked the start of a relentless assault on the Sacramento ring as the Heats scored eight straight points to start the third quarter and wrested a 55-42 advantage. The belligerent Miami offense did not stop over
there as they reeled off another 11-3 spurt, capped by a Wade fade away jumper, to gain a 20 point advantage midway through the third frame.
Fourth Quarter
The Heats held a 62-78 entering the fourth but Dwyane Wade didn’t have enough fun yet. He continued to rip through the defenses of the Kings as he scored Miami’s first eight point in the final 12 minutes. He came back midway to
score five more as the Heats romped to a 104-83 win over the beleaguered Kings.
Main Players
Dwyane Wade led all scorers in the match with 36 points as he led the Miami charge. Wade was phenomenal throughout the night and never let the Kings defense off the hook. After the match his close buddy James said.
"D-Wade is one of those guys, and there are only few of us in this league, that when they really get going there is really nothing you can do. He got it going."
LeBron James himself got going into the third quarter after a subdued start by his standards. The self-proclaimed ‘King’ fetched 14 points to finish with a grand total of 25 points and complemented it by 10 rebounds for a double-double. Chris Bosh also had
a double-double with 14 points and 17 rebounds.
For the embattled Sacramento Kings, Omri Casspi nailed five from downtown to lead with 20 points while Jason Thompson and Beno Udrih were the only others to feature in double figures with 13 and 12 points each.
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