RECAP: Kings dominate second-half in win over Miami, 123-113

Things can change quickly in a NBA game. And that’s exactly what happened at AmericanAirlines Arena on Monday night.

The Miami Heat had a great first quarter, leading 28-17 over the Sacramento Kings. It was a quarter that saw Hassan Whiteside have 13 rebounds and 4 blocks in the 12 minutes alone. But shortly after that, it was all downhill. The Heat were outscored 77-55 over the next two quarters, and again saw a double digit lead turn into a double digit deficit.

Miami trailed by as much as 17 points throughout the night, and once it got up there they were never in striking distance again.

So what happened?

A lot. But here’s a few things that went against Miami. The first is turnovers. The Heat had 20 turnovers in this game, and that is never going to cut it, especially when they are only shooting 40% as a team. On top of that, the Kings shot 50% as a team. The Heat never adjusted to the Kings preferred style of play, which is a faster paced game. Sacramento got plenty of better looks because they pushed the ball.

In addition, the Heat fell in love with the three-point shot a little too much. They shot 39 threes and made only 13. In comparison, the Kings also made 12, but shot only 26 of them, a much better efficiency. Also, Klay Thompson on his own made 14-24 threes in Chicago, just to rub it in.

It was a sad loss because the Heat could have won this game. But it appeared at times the ball just didn’t bounce their way, both in the open court and sometimes around the rim. A 43 point turd third from their opponent is what really did them in.

Some stats from both teams...

Miami was led by 31 points from Josh Richardson and 20 from Goran Dragic. Whiteside had an impressive line with 16 points, 24 rebounds and 6 blocks, but it wasn’t enough to out-perform Willie Cauley-Stein with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Buddy Hield had 23 points and De’Aaron Fox had 20 for the Kings.

The Heat (3-3) will play the Charlotte Hornets Tuesday night.