Last-second shot from Sabonis gives Sacramento Kings dramatic road win over Miami Heat

by · The Fresno Bee

MIAMI

Domantas Sabonis saved the Sacramento Kings Monday night in Miami.

Sabonis’ nine-foot, one-handed putback while falling away after an offensive rebound with 0.7 seconds remaining gave the Kings a 111-110 lead, and Terry Rozier’s 29-foot 3-pointer missed badly at the buzzer, giving the Kings their fourth win of the season and a 3-1 finish to their first multi-city road trip.

The Kings (4-3) overcame a 15-point fourth quarter from Jimmy Butler thanks largely to a big third quarter that turned the tide.

The win came with unique circumstances. The Kings were on the end of a difficult road trip and stint of three games in four nights culminating with their most difficult opponent of the trip. It was arguably their most impressive win of the season while their others came against the Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz and Atlanta Hawks, who all sat at 3-5 by the end of play Monday.

And the way the game ended — getting a game-winning shot from Sabonis after battling for a tough rebound, DeMar DeRozan scoring a four-point play with 1:11 remaining and Malik Monk hammering a dunk with 32 seconds left — proved what the Kings believed coming into the season: They have the players to make plays late in games and win a playoff series for the first time in 20 years.

“Hopefully this does what it did our first year, when Fox made his game-winner and we ended up being a top-three seed, and do big things,” Sabonis said.

Fox led Sacramento with 28 points, scoring 16 in the third quarter to bring the Kings back. Sacramento outscored Miami 37-17 to take a seven-point lead into the fourth after being down by 13 at halftime.

“I think our sense of urgency kind of went through the roof,” Fox said. “Being able to bring the game back and tie the game in that quarter did wonders for us.”

Monk’s dunk made it 110-109 with 32 seconds left, which came moments before Butler missed a 13-foot baseline jumper. The game-winning play started with a missed turnaround jumper from Fox, which Sabonis rebounded before making the go-ahead shot.

“I was in the right corner, so I was right there,” Monk said. “As soon as he shot, I knew it was going in.”

Sabonis had 16 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists, giving him his sixth consecutive double-double despite taking multiple shots to the face, including one in the first quarter that caused him to leave the game with a towel over his face. He left the game to tend to a cut on his lip and later went down after a shot to his left cheek, which had a noticeable welt while he spoke to reporters after the game.

“Domas is always going to be the dog of our team,” Monk said, “the one that take the hits, the one that gets cut up in he face, the one that get stitches. But he’s a team player, man. He just leaves it out there for us and himself, so he always does that.”

Fox bounced back from his 0-for-11 performance from 3 on Saturday in the overtime loss to Toronto by making 3 of 6 from long distance, including 2 of 3 in the third.

Fox following the loss in Toronto revealed he may have ligament damage to the pinkie on his shooting hand. His pinkie has been taped to his ring finger during games since suffering the injury early in training camp. He said the injury would likely take a month to recover from, but he’ll continue to play through it.

“You have to respect the process,” Fox said. “You’re not going to shoot well every night. Obviously, you don’t want to go 0 for 11, but those types of things happen. Even the best shooters in the world go through these things. And coming into this game, I’m not thinking about what happened last game.

“Even from the other team’s perspective, it’s not like they were going under every ball screen because I shot bad the previous game. ... Obviously, the way the other team’s defending me, they still have respect for the way that I would shoot the ball.”

DeRozan added 26 points, giving him at least 20 for the seventh straight game to start the season. He tied Chris Webber for the longest 20-point streak to start his tenure with the franchise.

“To respond the way we did just showed the ultimate confidence in how we can get things done,” DeRozan said. “Especially being down double digits throughout the game. It just speaks volumes. And we still got a lot, a lot of stuff we can still get better at on both ends, so it’s definitely, definitely intriguing because we know how much better we can be.”

The 37-point third quarter was one off the Kings’ season high of 38 in an Oct. 28 game against Portland. They made 15 of 22 shots, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range, and outrebounded the Heat 12-6.

For Miami, Herro got going early on en route to 27 points on the night. He made his first four shots, all 3s, in the first quarter and scored 13 points.

Sacramento went cold late in the second quarter while the Heat went on a 18-5 run over the final 4:27 of the first half. Miami outscored the Kings by 24 points from distance in the first half while making 11 of 20 (55%) from 3-point range. The Kings made just 3 of 14 in the first half before finishing 10 of 27.

Sacramento during the previous three games on the road trip struggled from distance, making just 29 of 104 (28%) while their opponents have shot 37%. The Kings had been outscored by an average of 21 points a night on 3s.

Head coach Mike Brown and Kings players said there was an animated discussion at halftime focusing on accountability, physicality and defending the 3-point line. The result: Miami made just 4 of 16 (25%) of their 3s in the second half, which proved crucial to Sacramento’s comeback.

“We challenged our guys, they challenged each other, and instances like this, that’s what great teams do,” Brown said. “Everybody wants to hold everybody accountable. I shouldn’t be the only guy holding people accountable.

“To get a win like that just continues to add to the belief and confidence,” Brown continued. “Especially when you come out and you play the way you feel like you’re capable of in the second half.”

The Heat were without second-year standout Jaime Jaquez Jr., who was dealing with a stomach issue. Kevin Love was expected to make his season debut but was ruled out 90 minutes before the game because of competitive conditioning, the Heat said. Love had been away from the team since the start of the regular season for undisclosed personal reasons.

New face in starting lineup

Shooting guard Kevin Huerter missed his second straight game due to an illness. He was spotted at shootaround Monday morning but left the court early as his teammates began shooting drills during the portion that was open to the media.

Brown started Doug McDermott in Huerter’s absence Saturday in Toronto but elected to go with Keon Ellis on Monday.

Brown, as he typically does, was coy when it came to unveiling who would start during his pregame news conference. The Kings were outscored by 13 points during his 27 minutes.

“I look at the plus-minus numbers a little bit,” Brown said before tipoff. “You take a look, and I thought Keon had a pretty good game. Same with Doug, I thought he had a pretty good game, too.”

McDermott scored four points while making 1 of 2 from 3-point range. Ellis Scored eight points and provided his typically strong defense over 27 minutes with two steals and two blocks. He went 3 of 6 from the field.

The decision to go with McDermott on Saturday, Brown said, was about keeping his bench rotations intact while Ellis entered the game at his typical time midway through the first quarter.

Kings rookie honored

Rookie guard Devin Carter, who continues to travel with the team while working back from his shoulder injury, had his No. 22 jersey retired at Doral Academy just outside of Miami on Monday before the game.

Carter, the 13th overall pick in June’s NBA draft, was seen participating in the Kings’ shootaround in a red no-contact jersey earlier in the day. He’s been ramping up his workouts while recovering from left shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum over the summer. The team said it expects to offer an update on Carter by January.

This story was originally published November 4, 2024, 8:10 PM.