SACRAMENTO — I don’t listen to a ton of national sports podcasts, but the one I do has a decidedly Miami bent. As such, I know more about Miami basketball, and specifically Heat Culture, than I have ever cared to.
That’s why, when it was announced that in addition to star Jimmy Butler, Miami would be without Tyler Herro, Josh Richardson, and Terry Rozier, it felt like the Kings were in trouble Monday night. Add in Sacramento’s propensity to play down to their competition and their track record on the second night of a back-to-back, and it seemed everyone was anticipating a loss coming into game 57.
In that sense, the home team did not disappoint.
If it’s been said once, it’s been said a thousand times: the Kings playing a team missing its star is a recipe for disaster. The Kings have losses that could be deemed inexcusable alongside wins that make them look like legit title contenders. But the difference between a true contender a team that is still a step or two away was evidenced Monday night, as a significantly less talented Heat team used their winning culture and championship pedigree to overcome their missing members and earn a 121-110 win.
Mike Brown spoke on Heat Culture and why it’s something so uniquely special in a league that can often be ‘me-first’. “You can’t replicate it, you’ve got to have your own culture. It’s hard to do the same thing that somebody else is doing, but the reality is, from top to bottom, they believe in toughness, playing hard, and playing the right way: Brown said. “Once you get it from within, you have the buy in from your main guys, the sky is the limit. Everyone else that joins that team, they’ll have to follow their lead or they’re out.”
The defensive effort for the home team, a thorn in Brown’s side all season, was lackadaisical at best from the start, as the Heat shot well over 50% from the field in the first half on their way to a 65-62 lead at the break. By midway through the third quarter, Sacramento looked tired, showing more fatigue from their back-to-back than the Heat did from their shortened rotation. The Miami lead stretched to as many as 20 in the third quarter, and Sacramento went into the final frame facing that very deficit. Boos reigned down on the Kings from a Golden 1 crowd that sported plenty of red, as another disappointing home loss seemed a certainty as the minutes ticked down.
“For us, it’s just bringing the fight every night,” Keegan Murray said after the game regarding his teams’ showing. “That’s something we have control over, we have control over our effort every night.”
But one thing you can say about this team: they rarely give up. The 20 point lead shrunk to six midway through the fourth quarter, as Keegan Murray and Kevin Huerter got hot from deep, bringing the crowd back into the game. Huerter cut it to four with a jumper with five minutes to play, but Bam Adebayo answered with a bucket off an offensive rebound seconds later. A Heat turnover led to a De’Aaron Fox layup to cut the lead to just two, but Jaime Jaquez Jr scored back to back buckets showcasing his impressive footwork and body control to put his team back up six with just over two minutes to play.
Murray, playing with five fouls, got a stop on Jaquez only to see Adebayo poke the ball out of Domantas Sabonis’ hands on the rebound. Murray recovered, getting a steal on the same possession that led to a transition dunk, but Adebayo responded right back with another two in the lane. Huerter missed a three with the Kings down six and a minute to play, and Caleb Martin’s dunk on the ensuing possession put the exclamation mark on the loss.
Though the switch flip in the fourth was competitive, it was too little, too late. “We’re competitive,” Murray said. “We know that we can’t dig ourselves in that hole – we’ve done it a lot this year. We just have to [compete] for four quarters.”
Fox agreed, complimenting his team’s performance down the stretch, but also giving credit to a Miami team that played well all night long. “They came in here and they played well, both offensively and defensively,” Fox said. “We fought back and got back into the game, but they beat us to the majority of the 50/50 balls, so some of the effort we have to be better. But they played better than us tonight.”
The Kings turned it over 15 times, including seven by Fox, as Miami’s zone defense flustered the home team. “Their activity, getting in passing lanes, being physical, turning us over,” Fox explained. “We haven’t seen as much zone out of anyone in the league as we have from them.”
Murray added, “They take away a lot of the things that we are good at.”
Though Sabonis had yet another triple double – his 21st of the season, Adebayo was just as good, backing down any would be defender with ease, draining turnaround jumpers, and leading the offense with seven assists in addition to his game-high 28 points. Kevin Love had a throwback game off the bench, scoring 19 points in 15 minutes while pulling down seven rebounds. Jaquez impressed throughout the evening, dominating his one on one opportunities to the tune of 26 points on 12-17 shooting. Kings players were complimentary of the rookie.
“I remember playing him in summer league,” Murray said. “I feel like he’s added a lot to his game since then. Whatever they’re doing in Miami, it’s helped him a lot, you can tell.”
Fox added, “he’s been a matchup problem for a lot of people. He just has game that works in a lot of [systems]. He’s not super shifty but he understands how to play, how to use his body, and he made tough shots. His one on one game was really big today.”
Brown said simply, “He’s a really good young player and he earned every bucket he got. He just hit shot after shot after shot.”
Murray finished with 28 points on 10-14 shooting (6-7 from deep), and frankly needed more shots down the stretch. All five starters were in double figures for the Kings, as Fox added 27, Huerter and Sabonis 14, and Harrison Barnes 10. Malik Monk led the bench with eight.
Though Brown bristled at the thought that his team doesn’t show up when opposing stars don’t, saying “I don’t feel like it’s a trend that every time we play a team and their number one, number two, or number three guy is out and we lose,” it certainly feels that way at times. And games like this are where the championship pedigree of an organization that has been to conference finals and won multiple championships shows why.
Sacramento won’t have much time to lick their wounds before another tough game looms, as they travel to Denver to take on the Nuggets Wednesday night. With the calendar turning to March, the Kings can look ahead to 11 games on their home floor in the coming month, including a potential “get right” six game home stand. With the season winding down, the playoff position jockeying is getting more intense, and protecting their home court over the next 30+ days will be more important than ever.
Everything remains ahead for this team, but they will need to lock in.
Murray put it simply, saying, “we just have to bring it every night.”
