SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Bam Adebayo scored 28 points, Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 26 and the short-handed Miami Heat beat the Sacramento Kings 121-110 on Monday night for their fourth straight win.
Kevin Love provided a big spark with 19 points off the bench and Caleb Martin scored 16 for the Heat, who were missing three starters because of injuries or suspensions.
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Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis had 14 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his NBA-high 21st triple-double of the season. Sabonis also became the 10th player in history with 40 straight double-doubles in a season.
Keegan Murray scored 28 and De’Aaron Fox added 27 for Sacramento, but the Kings were unable to build on a big road win against the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday and had their three-game winning streak snapped.
Miami was missing several key players, leading to a 30th different starting lineup in the 57th game of the season. Jimmy Butler, Nikola Jovic and Thomas Bryant served suspensions for their role in a fight Friday night at New Orleans, and Tyler Herro (left knee), Terry Rozier (right knee), Josh Richardson (right shoulder) and Orlando Robinson (back) were out with injuries.
But that didn’t derail the Heat, who got plenty of contributions from unheralded players like Delon Wright, who scored 13 points in his Miami debut, and reserve Haywood Highsmith, who scored all 15 of his points in the first half.
The Heat withstood a 20-4 run by Sacramento spanning the first-quarter break to take a 65-62 halftime lead and just built from there.
Love scored 10 points during a 17-2 run to end the third quarter with Miami ahead 101-81.
The Kings tried to mount a comeback, getting one 3-pointer from Kevin Huerter and two from Murray in less than a minute to spark a 14-1 run that cut the deficit to six midway through the fourth on a floater by Fox.
Sacramento got as close as two points on a layup by Fox with 3:41 left, but back-to-back baskets from Jaquez helped hold off the Kings.
UP NEXT
Heat: Visit Portland on Tuesday.
Kings: Visit Denver on Wednesday.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba