MIAMI: Jimmy Butler returned, and made sure the Miami Heat got back to their winning ways.
Butler scored a season-high 30 points after missing 10 games because of the NBAs virus-related protocols, including the go-ahead layup with 42.1 seconds left, and the Heat defeated the Sacramento Kings 105-104 on Saturday night to end a five-game losing streak.
Sacramento had a last-ditch chance at the end, but Richaun Holmes’ jumper was well short.
Bam Adebayo had 18 points and 13 rebounds for Miami, which got 15 points from Tyler Herro and 14 from Duncan Robinson.
De’Aaron Fox scored 30 for Sacramento, 17 of those coming in the fourth. Buddy Hield had 18 for the Kings including a steal that he turned into a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:44 left, putting the Kings up 104-103.
Butler had the night’s final score, though, and the Heat escaped.
Kelly Olynyk scored 11 for the Heat, who were still without Goran Dragic and used their 14th lineup in 19 games this season.
Marvin Bagley scored 17 for Sacramento, which was playing its third game in four nights and saw its three-game winning streak snapped.
Butler scored 20 points by halftime, 14 of them coming in the second quarter. The Heat trailed most of the first half, briefly held the lead late and went into intermission down 59-57 after Tyrese Haliburton beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer.
Miami outscored the Kings by nine in the third, taking an 84-77 lead into the final period and led nearly the entire fourth until Hield’s 3-pointer in the final 2 minutes, but Butler saved the Heat in the end.
TIP-INS
Kings: Sacramento scored 35 points in the first 12 minutes, then had five points in the next seven minutes. … When the Kings fell behind by 10 early in the fourth quarter, it was the first time they faced a double-digit deficit in their last four games.
Heat: It was also milestone night for Butler, who scored his 10,000th point and grabbed his 3,000th career rebound, both in the first half. … The Heat are 5-5 at home. They were 27-5 in their building last season.
O CANADA
Olynyks first basket gave him 5,000 career points, making him the fourth Canadian-born player to hit that NBA milestone after Andrew Wiggins, Rick Fox and Tristan Thompson. Denvers Jamal Murray will be next; hes 36 points away. Steve Nash, the two-time NBA MVP and now Brooklyn Nets coach — generally considered the best Canadian player ever — was born in South Africa.
BUDDY BALL
Hield extended the NBAs longest active streak of games with a 3-pointer to 85, four shy of matching Dana Barros for the fourth-longest in league history. The record belongs to Golden States Stephen Curry, who had one in 157 consecutive games.
UP NEXT
Kings: Visit New Orleans on Monday.
Heat: Host Charlotte on Monday.
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