Miami Heat snaps 7-game losing streak as they defeat the Sacramento Kings behind “Playoff Jimmy” performance

A battle between one of the hottest teams in the NBA and one of the coldest teams in the NBA went down to the final minutes of the game. Jimmy Butler had one of his vintage playoff performance moments, as he helped lead the Miami Heat over the Sacramento Kings 115-106 at Kaseya Center.

Coming into this game, the Miami Heat was on a 7-game losing streak. Despite being the reigning Eastern Conference champions, the Heat has looked vulnerable this season. Jimmy Butler has missed 15 games this season and the Miami Heat offense has been one of the worst in the NBA. The Heat tried to address this issue by recently trading for dynamic scoring guard Terry Rozier, yet it remains to be seen how the trade changes the dynamic of this Miami Heat team.

Jimmy Butler led the way for the Heat with his heroic performance, finishing with 31 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists on 71% shooting. Josh Richardson came off the bench and contributed 24 points on 6 made threes. Tyler Herro ended with 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists while Bam Adebayo had 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists.

On the Kings side, big man Domantas Sabonis had another fantastic game, recording another triple double as he finished the night with 19 points, 17 rebounds, and 13 assists. This is his 13th triple double of the season, ranking second behind only Nikola Jokic. 2nd year standout Keegan Murray shot lights out, hitting 7 threes and finishing with 33 points. Meanwhile, it was a rough night for De’Aaron Fox, as he had 13 points on 25% shooting.

This win improves the Heat to 25-23 on the season, which is 7th in the Eastern Conference. They are currently 2 games behind the 6th seeded Indiana Pacers and 0.5 games above the 8th seeded Orlando Magic. The Heat are trying to make another deep playoff push, so this win was huge for them to gain confidence and snap their losing streak. They’ll try to build off this win as they play against the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

For the Kings, this loss drops them to 27-19, which is 5th in the Western Conference. The Kings have played great this season and will look to build off their fantastic breakout season last year. Their next game will be on Friday night where they will play against the Indiana Pacers.