Sacramento @ Miami preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 4, 2017 ) Miami 107, Sacramento 102

The Miami Heat struggled on a five-game trek that ended with a loss at Houston on Monday but return home with a chance to turn things around against a pair of sub-.500 foes before hitting the road again. The Heat will try to hand the visiting Sacramento Kings their ninth loss in 10 games on Thursday.

Miami dropped three of five on its trip but hasn't lost back-to-back games since falling to Golden State and San Antonio in early December and feels good about itself going forward. "Our team is certainly developing some grit," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters. "We also had a couple tough losses on this road trip. There's nothing to regret about this game (a 99-90 loss at Houston). We'll learn from it. We'll learn how to handle those kind of situations, execute better to be able to finish games against a defense that steps up the pressure. ... But look, there's a lot of good things going on. Our locker room knows that, and we've got to get back, get some rest and maybe we'll get some guys back, get ready for another battle Thursday night." The Kings snapped an eight-game slide with a 105-99 win at Orlando on Tuesday. Sacramento is committing to using younger players but gave veteran Garrett Temple plenty of minutes on Tuesday and was rewarded with a career-high 34 points.


TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCS California (Sacramento), FS Sun (Miami)

ABOUT THE KINGS (14-33): Temple is one of several veterans, along with Zach Randolph, George Hill, Vince Carter and Kosta Koufos, who will sit out on occasion to allow younger players to absorb more minutes. Randolph, Hill and Koufos did not play on Monday, but Temple saw 40 minutes off the bench and scored 19 points in the fourth quarter, including all 17 during Sacramento's game-changing 17-6 run. Willie Cauley-Stein added 21 points, nine rebounds and five blocks while going 9-for-18 from the floor after a combined 7-for-30 showing in his previous two contests.

ABOUT THE HEAT (27-20): Miami was without three of its strongest guards on Monday with Dion Waiters (ankle), Goran Dragic (knee) and Tyler Johnson (ankle) out but still managed to hold a Rockets squad featuring Chris Paul and James Harden under 100 points. "We finished it with grit," shooting guard Wayne Ellington told reporters of the road trip. "We finished it with character. We lost, so it hurts, it stings. But at the same time, we had a good road trip. We improved on some things. We also showed some things about ourselves. We got toughness. No matter who's on the floor with us, no matter who's with us in the game, it's always next man up. We have enough." Waiters underwent surgery on his left ankle Monday and will sit out the rest of the season.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Kings rookie PF De'Aaron Fox left Tuesday's game with an abdominal injury and is day-to-day.

2. Dragic missed the last two games but was available in an emergency and could be ready by Thursday.

3. Miami has won the last six and 16 of 17 in the all-time series.

PREDICTION: Heat 109, Kings 99