Field Level Media
Jan 20, 2020
Rookie Kendrick Nunn scored a game-high 25 points and reserve James Johnson added a season-high 22 points to lead the host Miami Heat to a 118-113 overtime win over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
Miami improved to 7-0 in overtime games this season in a contest that featured 16 lead changes and 14 ties.
Johnson made 9 of 11 shots from the floor, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, as the Heat improved their home record to an NBA-best 19-1. Johnson also blocked a potential game-tying 3-point shot by Bogdan Bogdanovic in the final seconds of overtime.
Nunn sank two foul shots with 0.4 seconds left to seal the Heat's third win in four games.
Nunn, who also had seven rebounds and six assists, went undrafted in 2018 and yet has already won NBA Rookie of the Month honors in November and December.
Nemanja Bjelica scored a team-high 22 points for the Kings, who have lost five consecutive games. Buddy Hield added 20 points for Sacramento, and teammate Marvin Bagley III had 15 points and a season-high 15 rebounds.
Miami was without its top player, four-time All-Star Jimmy Butler, who sat out due to a sore right hip. Butler, who leads the Heat in points, assists and steals, has missed six games this season.
The Heat, who already were without Justise Winslow (back injury), temporarily lost Derrick Jones Jr. with 8.4 seconds left in the third quarter when he was accidentally poked in both eyes by Cory Joseph. Jones, however, returned late in the fourth quarter.
Sacramento, which was without forward Richaun Holmes (shoulder), led 24-21 after the first quarter, 58-56 at halftime and 78-76 after three, setting up a wild finish.
After five consecutive Bagley points -- a pair of put-backs and a free throw -- Sacramento led 103-97 with 1:22 left in the fourth quarter. But 3-pointers by Johnson and Duncan Robinson tied the score.
Then, in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, there was more drama.
Bjelica followed his own shot to give the Kings a 105-103 lead with 1.9 seconds left.
Miami scored with 0.8 seconds left on a layup by Bam Adebayo, who received a perfect cross-court inbounds pass from Goran Dragic. A missed 3-point try by Bogdanovic at the buzzer sent the game to overtime.
--Field Level Media