Bosh, Deng Lead Heat To 95-83 Win Over Sacramento
Dwyane Wade was absent again from the Miami lineup, but the Heat played well enough that their aging superstar wasn't missed.
Chris Bosh scored 30 points and Luol Deng had 25 to lead the Heat to a 95-83 win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.
Miami used a solid defensive effort in containing Kings high-scoring center DeMarcus Cousins and rode the scoring of Bosh and Deng to the victory. Miami went 3-2 on its road trip.
Wade, the Heat's leading scorer, missed his second straight game with a hamstring strain. Wade, who turns 33 Saturday, also sat seven games in November with a hamstring injury. Miami is 5-5 this season when he doesn't play.
"Tonight's win was more about committing to holding a good offensive team to 83 points," Miami coach Eric Spoelstra said. "That's a talented offensive team and we were really trying to get after it."
The Heat have been playing well defensively of late. They had a four-game stretch when they allowed an average of 87 points, before losing to Golden State 104-89 on Wednesday.
Cousins had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings, who lost their second straight and third in four games. Cousins was 4 of 12 and was limited to three second-half points and committed eight turnovers.
"Cousins is tough to stop. We wanted to give him a bunch of looks and try to slow him down," Bosh said. "We were trying not to foul him and send him to the line. For the most part what we wanted to do worked."
Making his second start of the season, rookie point guard Shabazz Napier had 12 points, five assists and six rebounds for Miami. The Heat 26 assists and only 10 turnovers.
Ben McLemore scored 15 and Darren Collison added 13 and six assists for the Kings.
Sacramento shot 42.7 percent, committed 15 turnovers and continually allowed the Heat to get open looks.
"I thought we couldn't create pace all night," said Kings coach Tyrone Corbin. "Miami wanted to play at a slow tempo, so we talked about creating pace and pushing the ball down the floor. We ended up falling into a trap and playing at a pace that was favorable to the other team."
Miami continued to shoot well in the fourth quarter. Napier and Bosh made jumpers to open the period, extending the lead to 18 points. Another perimeter shot by Napier put the Heat ahead 86-66 with 6:41 remaining.
Ahead by eight points at the half, Deng got the Heat going in the third. The veteran forward made five straight perimeter shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, and scored 12 points, helping Miami take a 75-61 lead into final quarter.
TWO-MAN SHOW
Bosh had his fifth 30-plus game of the season. He made all three 3-point attempts, knocked down 11 of 20 shots, and added seven rebounds, three steals and a block. Deng was extremely effective as well. He made 11 of 18 shots, grabbed six rebounds, and had four assists, two steals and two blocks.
TIP-INS
Heat: Hassan Whiteside started at center and was looking forward to meeting the Kings and showing them they made a mistake. Drafted by Sacramento in the second round in 2010, Whiteside played less than two minutes his rookie season and bounced between the NBA and the D-League until he was cut in July 2012. In his first game back in Sacramento, he had three fouls in three minutes and finished with four points and one rebound in 15 minutes.
Kings: Rudy Gay didn't dress due to a left knee sprain. He is averaging 20.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists. The Kings were also without key reserve Carl Landry (right wrist sprain), who missed his first game of the season. Backup point guard Ramon Sessions (low back strain) has missed 11 straight games.
UP NEXT
Miami faces Oklahoma City at home on Tuesday.
The Kings host the Clippers on Saturday.
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