Dragic Scores 25 & Heat Rally In OT, Top Kings 108-96
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MIAMI (AP) — Goran Dragic scored 25 points, Tyler Johnson had seven of his 22 in overtime and the Miami Heat beat the Sacramento Kings 108-96 on Tuesday night.
Hassan Whiteside got his fourth double-double to start the season, 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat — who have won 15 straight at home over the Kings. Dragic added eight rebounds and eight assists, and Dion Waiters scored 20 points for Miami.
Rudy Gay scored 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Sacramento. DeMarcus Cousins scored 30 points for the Kings, but fouled out late in regulation and Sacramento was outscored 17-5 in the extra session.
The Heat wasted an 80-71 lead in the final six minutes of regulation.
Gay went on a personal 7-0 run to turn a five-point deficit into an 89-87 lead on his jumper with 1:48 left. The Heat tied it twice from there, meaning the Kings lost two leads — and then their star, too.
Cousins had his left elbow into Whiteside on a drive with 30 seconds left, the offensive foul being his sixth of the game. But Waiters and Gay missed 3s on the last two regulation possessions, and to overtime they went.
TIP-INS
Kings: Cousins was suspended for both Kings-Heat games last season, the second of those for exceeding the league's 16 technicals-in-a-season limit. He picked up a tech Tuesday as well, already his third this season. ... The Kings shot 38 percent.
Heat: Whiteside is the second Heat player to start a season with four double-doubles. Rony Seikaly did it twice. ... For the fourth consecutive year and the sixth time in his nine seasons as coach, the Heat played on Erik Spoelstra's birthday. Miami is 4-2 in those games.
DUNK DIFFICULTY
Whiteside and Cousins had some dunk difficulties in the third quarter. Whiteside went up for a two-hander early in the quarter, only to get it blocked by Cousins and wind up on his backside. About a minute later, Cousins had an open look at a dunk of his own and got stuffed by the front of the rim.
HASLEM DEBUTS
Heat captain Udonis Haslem got his first playing time of the season — and officially making this his 14th Heat season, the most anyone has spent with the franchise. Among current players, only Dirk Nowitzki (19 seasons, Dallas), Tony Parker (16 seasons, San Antonio) and Manu Ginobili (15 seasons, San Antonio) have been with only one team for longer.
UP NEXT
Kings: Visit Orlando on Thursday. Sacramento will be playing for the third time on this five-game, seven-day trip.
Heat: Visit Toronto on Friday. It's Miami's first trip there since losing Game 7 of last season's Eastern Conference semifinals.
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