Kings at Heat
THE STORY: The Miami Heat are rolling right along - all the way up to the best winning percentage in the Eastern Conference. The Heat have won six straight - each by at least 12 points - and have their two superstars playing at the top of their respective games. Dwyane Wade has shot better than 50 percent from the floor in each of the last 10 games and LeBron James is shooting 62.3 percent over the last four. Next up Tuesday is the visiting Sacramento Kings, who have dropped five in a row. The Kings have allowed 111.2 points during the slide.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, CS Sacramento (Kings), SunSports (Heat)
ABOUT THE KINGS (10-21): Sacramento is in the midst of a six-game road trip that will take it into the All-Star break. Despite close calls at Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland, the Kings have not been able to break through at the end of games. The roughest ending came Sunday, when DeMarcus Cousins gave Sacramento a lead with 2.9 seconds left at Cleveland. But Tyreke Evans committed a foul with 0.4 seconds left and the Kings ended up with a 93-92 loss. Sacramento has surrendered at least 93 points in 14 of its last 15 games and ranks last in the NBA in scoring defense.
ABOUT THE HEAT (25-7): Looking to take advantage of Sacramento’s sieve-like defense is Miami, which is second in the NBA in scoring at 103.3 points. The Heat are shooting just under 50 percent as a team during their winning streak and had put up at least 105 points in each game until “slumping” to a 90-78 victory over Southeast Division rival Orlando on Sunday. James, Wade and Chris Bosh have each gotten plenty of rest during the winning streak, with big leads allowing for plenty of fourth-quarter rest. Wade has touched 30 minutes only once in the last five.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The Kings are 3-16 on the road this season.
2. Miami has taken six straight in the series and won the two 2010-11 meetings by 20.5 points.
3. James has averaged 29.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.6 assists in 14 career games against Sacramento.