FINAL/2 OT
Heat 141, Kings 129
MIAMI - After Marcus Thornton pulled the Kings within one at 128-127, LeBron James scored seven unanswered to spark a 9-0 run that allowed the Heat to finally shake the Kings and win their 12th game in a row in double overtime.
Thornton made a career-high eight threes in scoring a season-high 36 points, but James (40 points, 16 assists, eight rebounds) and Dwyane Wade (39 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) were too much at the end of the night.
The Kings (19-39) have now lost a season-worst six consecutive games.
That the Kings forced the Heat (41-14) into overtime was improbable after they trailed by nine late in regulation.
But the Kings had a chance to win in the first overtime.
Isaiah Thomas shot was blocked by Chris Bosh and Miami grabbed the rebound with 5.7 seconds to play.
But John Salmons managed to block LeBron James' attempt to win the game with a lay up and force a second overtime.
Wade missed two free throws that gave the Kings the ball down 112-110 with 19.8 seconds to play in the fourth quarter.
DeMarcus Cousins scored on a putback of a miss by IThomas to tie the game at 112.
Wade missed a jumper at the buzzer that sent the game into overtime.
Miami led 110-101 with 2:20 to play in regulation before a 11-2 run by the Kings ended the quarter. Thornton made three three-pointers during the run that was capped by Cousins' putback.
Thornton finished with 36 points. Cousins had 24 points and 15 rebounds. Tyreke Evans had 26 points and five steals.
THIRD QUARTER
Kings 85, Heat 84
MIAMI - With four players in double figures and 23 assists on 30 field goals, the Kings are using the team approach to go the upset of the Heat.
Marcus Thornton has 21 points to lead the Kings but the third quarter was big for Tyreke Evans, who scored 10 of his 16 points in the period.
John Salmons has 15 points and DeMarcus Cousins has 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Dwyane Wade leads Miami with 25 points. LeBron James has 20 points and eight assists.
The Kings have to be careful with the ball (13 turnovers, 16 Miami points off turnovers) to have a chance of holding on to the lead.
Miami has just seven turnovers for 13 Sacramento points.
HALFTIME
Kings 53, Heat 51
MIAMI - The backcourt of Aaron Brooks and Marcus Thornton helped propel the Kings to a halftime lead.
Thornton has a game-high 18 points. Brooks' stat line isn't impressive. He missed all four of his shots to go with an assist, a steal and a turnover. But the Kings were a plus-3 with Brooks in the game for 10 minutes.
The lack of turnovers, however, was important. After giving up eight points off five turnovers in the first quarter, the Kings gave up two points off three turnovers in the second quarter.
DeMarcus Cousins had 10 points and seven rebounds in the first half.
Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 17 points. LeBron James has eight points and five assists.
The Kings are doing a much better job of setting up teammates tonight. The Kings have 15 assists on 19 made field goals.
FIRST QUARTER
Heat 27, Kings 22
MIAMI - The Kings led 16-8 before the Miami Heat picked up their defense to finish the quarter by forcing five turnovers that led to eight points.
DeMarcus Cousins, Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton each scored six points in the quarter as the Kings shot 50 percent. Cousins also grabbed five rebounds.
LeBron James led the Heat with six points and four assists. Dwyane Wade also had six points for Miami. The Heat shot 59.1 percent.
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