Heat pull away from Kings in OT
MIAMI -- Goran Dragic scored 25 points to lead the Miami Heat to a 108-96 overtime victory over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night.
Dragic hit three 3-pointers and Tyler Johnson scored five points in overtime for the Heat, who secured the win 11 unanswered points.
The victory also was Miami's 15th straight over the Kings at AmericanAirlines Arena. Sacramento has not won at Miami since November 2001.
Johnson finished with 22 points and Dion Waiters scored 20 for the Heat (2-2).
Rudy Gay had an opportunity to give the Kings the win in regulation, but his 3-point attempt at the buzzer failed to hit the rim. Gay finished with 30 points for Sacramento (2-3). DeMarcus Cousins also scored 30 points but fouled with 30 seconds remaining in regulation.
Ty Lawson rebounded Waiters' missed 3-point attempt with 10.8 seconds remaining, giving the Kings an opportunity at the win in regulation, but Gay shot an air-ball at the buzzer.
Gay's jumper with 2:12 remaining in the fourth quarter gave the Kings a 89-87 advantage, their first lead since midway through the first quarter. The basket capped a 7-0 run for the Kings.
Johnson's layup with 1:03 remaining tied it at 89 before the Kings retook the lead on Cousins' layup with 48.3 seconds left. Miami tied it 91-91 on Waiters' jumper with 34.5 seconds to go.
Miami extended a four-point lead at halftime and scored eight unanswered points to start the second half. Hassan Whiteside's dunk 2:47 into the second half capped the run and increased the Heat's lead to 62-50.
With Whiteside sitting most of the first half because of foul trouble and limited to four points, Waiters and Dragic picked up the early scoring load for Miami with 16 and 13 points, respectively.
Dragic's 3-pointer with 1:30 remaining in the second period gave Miami its largest lead of the first half at 54-47.
NOTES: Kings F Omri Casspi sat out his second consecutive game due to illness. Casspi has appeared in two games for a total of 19 minutes this season. The seven-year veteran averaged a career-high 11.8 points last season but scored four points in his two appearances in 2016-17. ... Sacramento will conclude a three-game Southeast stretch Thursday at Orlando before ending its five-game road trip with a back-to-back set at Milwaukee and Toronto on Saturday and Sunday. ... Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said G Josh Richardson is extending his workouts as he continues to recover from a right knee injury he sustained in the offseason. Richardson missed the entire pre-season and Miami's five regular-season games. ... The Heat will have their first consecutive road games at Toronto on Friday and Oklahoma City on Nov. 7 before returning home for the highly anticipated game against the Chicago Bulls and ex-Miami G Dwyane Wade on Nov. 10.