MIAMI — Several sobering realities hit home for the Miami Heat in Saturday night’s 127-111 loss to the Sacramento Kings at Kaseya Center.
They didn’t have enough healthy bodies to compete.
They didn’t have enough on the defensive end to deter.
And they might not be who they thought they were just a scant week ago.
Shorthanded and seemingly gassed in playing their third game in four nights after a two-game trip, the Heat proved no match for a team that entered 5-17.
So make it four losses in the last five games for Erik Spoelstra’s team and now a 14-10 record.
“We didn’t have a lot of juice on either end of the floor,” Spoelstra said. “It was not one of our finer games.”
Lacking sidelined Tyler Herro, Davion Mitchell and Pelle Larsson, who all sat because of ailments, the Heat lacked a counter to the offensive explosion of Kings guard Zach LaVine, who closed with 42 points.
LaVine shot 12 of 24 from the field, including 8 of 13 on 3-pointers.
“He was in a great flow,” Spoelstra said, “and we weren’t doing a lot to disrupt him.”
For the Heat, Norman Powell scored 18 before sitting out the fourth quarter, with Bam Adebayo limited to seven points and nine rebounds in his 25 minutes, on a night Kel’el Ware was benched at the start of the second half.
“We got to get stops,” Adebayo said. “That’s the biggest thing. And then also, we’ve just got to move the ball.”
With ample time for the bench to take care of mop-up duty, the Heat also got 27 points from Jaime Jaquez Jr. and 20 from Simone Fontecchio.
Of the skid, Powell said, “I don’t think we’re too concerned right now. Just got to get back to who we are, offensively, defensively, our identity.”
Five Degrees of Heat from Saturday night’s game:
1. Game flow: The Kings led 34-31 at the end of the first period, with LaVine up to 18 points at that stage. LaVine then was up to 29 points by halftime, when the Kings led 72-55.
It got worse from there, with the Heat falling behind by 27 in the third period and trailing 101-78 going into the fourth.
LaVine had 37 points entering the fourth quarter, with the Kings’ lead cresting at 28.
“We’ll work on it,” Spoelstra said. “We’re going to work on getting more consistent to how we want to play.”
2. And another one: With Herro, Larsson and Mitchell out, the Heat went with their 10th lineup.
That not only had Dru Smith with his first start of the season and third of his career, but Nikola Jovic back in the rotation and two-way player Jahmir Young with first-quarter minutes.
Of all the available Heat players, second-year forward Keshad Johnson was the lone one not to see action in the opening period.
Johnson eventually entered for the first time with 2:25 to play in the third period.
Smith struggled as a starter, shooting 1 of 6 from the field.
Of Mitchell’s absence, Powell said, “We just miss his energy. We know how important D-Mitch is to what we do offensively and defensively.”
3. Ware benched: After starting alongside Adebayo for a second consecutive night, Ware was benched at the start of the second half in favor of Jaquez.
Ware did not enter in the second half until 4:10 remained in the third period, when the Heat trailed by 23.
Ware was coming off an uneven Friday night in Orlando, when he did not play in the decisive fourth quarter, with Spoelstra instead opting for smaller lineups.
Ware closed with five points and six rebounds in 30 minutes against the Kings.
“Just looking for some juice, something to just kick-start for some energy,” Spoelstra said of the second-half lineup switch. “It wasn’t an indictment on Kel’el.”
4. The three thing: Limited in their 3-point attempts in Friday night’s loss in Orlando, who they closed 7 of 19 from beyond the arc, the Heat this time struggled with their accuracy from distance.
At halftime LaVine stood 6 of 7 from beyond the arc, when the Heat were 5 of 21.
The Heat closed 9 of 31 on 3-pointers, the Kings 14 of 33.
“Honestly, I think we’re passing up a lot of shots that we weren’t passing up earlier,” Powell said of the Heat’s recent 3-point regression. “We’re missing those moments right now.”
5. What next?: With an NBA Cup victory Tuesday night in Orlando, the Heat will not be home again until Dec 23.
Even with a loss Tuesday, that also could be the case, depending on Tuesday’s other Eastern Conference NBA Cup game, between the New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors.
The only chance for a home game before the Raptors’ Dec. 23 visit would be if the Heat lose Tuesday to the Magic and the Raptors lose at home Tuesday to the Knicks. In that case, the Heat would host the Raptors on Dec. 15 at Kaseya Center.
For now, a two-day break in the midst of a three-game losing streak.
“I want our guys to get as much rest as possible,” Spoelstra said.