For the first three quarters, this game looked eerily similar to the game against Denver. Miami again played poor defense in the first half, allowing 62 points through the first 24 minutes. The Heat managed to make a few mini-runs in the third quarter, but a late surge by Sacramento to close out the quarter had Miami down eight entering the final stanza of play. Former Florida Gator John Salmons made two free throws to start the fourth quarter, putting Miami down by 10 with just under 12 minutes to play.
Beasley, who turned 20 years old Friday, scored eight unanswered points before finding Jamaal Magloire for a nice dunk. Within 1:58, the once 74-84 deficit was only 83-84. It seemed as if this game would go down to the wire until Miami opened up a 99-94 lead with with 115 seconds to go after Wade made a nice dish to Udonis Haslem for a layup. But Bobby Jackson nailed a three, cutting the lead to 99-97 with 68 seconds left, still anybody's game. The Heat would need to dig a little bit deeper for this win.
Mario Chalmers has hit contested threes in crunch time. This time he did it again, but in a red Miami uniform. The rookie out of Kansas State nailed a triple with Jackson all over him with 46 seconds to go. With 12 seconds left and the score at 102-99, Wade picked Kevin Martin's pocket for a steal. He was immediately fouled, and could've given the Heat a 104-99 lead.
But he didn't.
Wade made only one of two free throws. Spencer Hawes hit a three on Sacramento's ensuing possession to make it 104-103 with just 10 seconds to go. Mario Chalmers was fouled and made one of two, and Hawes made another jumper to force overtime.
Wade made the first two field goals of overtime to give the Heat a four-point lead. Unfortunately, Magloire was charged with a flagrant foul on Sacramento's ensuing possession. Hawes hit both free throws, and Sacramento would retain possession. Kevin Matin got free for a wide open jumper to tie the game up. Miami's 6-foot-11 center did a good job on the glass, but that flagrant foul ended up as a four-point possession for the Kings.
Wade and Haslem hooked up for a pick-and-roll that ended up getting the 6-foot-8 power forward a three-point play. But Hawes' reverse layup with 2:14 left to go cut the Heat lead to 111-110. On Miami's next possession, Wade's teammates were able to get him an open lane to the bucket before Hawes came over and pummeled Miami's superstar guard to the ground. Wade immediately grimaced and grabbed his right elbow, and took a few moments to get back up.
Hawes was assessed with a flagrant foul, and Wade connected on one of two. The Kings got possession after a Beasley miss. Daequan Cook was called for a foul on a Martin three-point attempt that didn't have much contact at all. Nonetheless, Martin made all three shots from the line to give Sacramento a 113-112 lead. After Wade turned the ball over, Hawes hit another jump shot to give the Kings a 115-112 lead with just 56 seconds to go.
Those were the last points scored by Sacramento. Miami would go on to score seven.
Wade made a contested three-pointer to tie the game at 115 all (and he did it just after getting a blow to his right elbow). After good Miami defense that forced a 24-second shot clock violation, Wade took another hard foul, but this time, he hit both free throws. The Heat had a 117-115 lead with just five seconds left to go.
Hawes missed on a jumper with .8 seconds left to tie the game. Cook leaped for the rebound and was subsequently fouled. The sophomore guard out of Ohio State sunk both free throws to ice the game for Miami.
Wade struggled early on, missing 11 of his first 16 shot attempts. But the League's leading scorer connected on six of his final 10 field goal attempts on his way to 41 points, 24 trips to the foul line, five rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocked shots. Wade knew exactly when to take over the game, but had help from Beasley to spark Miami's comeback in the fourth quarter.
The 6-foot-9 forward out of Kansas had his second double-double this week with 23 points on 10-of-19 shooting, two connections from beyond the arc and 10 rebounds. Throughout the first two months of the season, Beasley hadn't managed a double-double. I was pleased that Coach Erik Spoelstra stuck with Beasley in crunch time. The talented rookie played 35 minutes for the Heat.Another player off the bench got major minutes Friday night. It was Cook, back from his knee injury that held him out against Denver. While he didn't have the best offensive game, he played tough defense on Martin. During the crucial 24-second violation the Heat forced, Cook stayed his ground and forced Sacramento's leading scorer into an air-ball.
Udonis Haslem had 11 points and eight rebounds while Magloire grabbed nine rebounds, four of which were offensive, in just 15 minutes. All of Magloire's rebounds came in the fourth quarter, highlighted by a sequence in which the 6-foot-11 center from Kentucky stayed with his shot, grabbed two of his own misses before earning a trip to the foul line. Although Joel Anthony had six quick points for the Heat, he got in early foul trouble (again). I don't see Anthony's starting position safe right now.
The biggest news before the opening tip was that James Jones was back on the active roster. Jones, a free-agent acquisition last summer, had wrist surgery on his shooting hand Oct. 18 and was finally back. The former Miami Hurricane played three minutes, with a foul and turnover. It was good to see Jones back, though. He's going to have to continue to work his way into the rotation. Hopefully Pat Riley will see the small forward who is a dead-eye three-point shooter and can provide lengthy defense on the other end of the court for the Heat.
Miami (19-16) will head down to Los Angeles to meet with Kobe Bryant and the Lakers Sunday night.
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