Game #57: Sacramento Kings (13-40) vs. Miami Heat (41-15)

by David Dwork on Feb 22, 2011 8:03 AM EST

It's been almost a week since the Miami Heat had a game thanks to the All-Star weekend spectacular. Don't get me wrong, it was fun to watch and overall went pretty well for the members of the Heat that participated. The first guy to go was James Jones. He won the 3-Point Shootout on Saturday night, beating out the Celtics' Ray Allen (NBA all-time leader in 3-pointers) and Paul Pierce (3-Point Shootout defending champ)

Then came the main event, which went very well for the Big 3 up until Dwyane Wade re-injured his right ankle early in the 3^rd quarter. He sat out the rest of the game and I'm sure Heat fans all over the place, myself included, were waiting anxiously to find out the severity of the injury. To make matters worse we couldn't get any answers until the following day after Heat practice.

The Miami All-Star crew returned to South Florida bright and early, around 7am on Monday, so Erik Spoelstra held a late 5pm practice to give them a chance to sleep and rest a bit before heading to the AAA. What we finally found out after practice that D-Wade was fine. He fully participated in practice and should be fine moving forward.

Only Mike Miller will be held out of tonight's game against Sacramento. Erik Speolstra confirmed that Miller did not suffer a concussion last week, but Spo still wanted to give him a little more time before sending him back out. I wouldn't be too worried about Miller though. He looked just fine after practice, smiling and laughing while shooting the ball around.

Looking at tonight's opponent, the Sacramento Kings are not in very good shape right now for multiple reasons. They are in the midst of a pretty crappy season, having won just 13 of their 53 games. The bigger problem for fans in Sacramento is that the franchise's owners seem to be considering moving the team out of the California capital city and a bit further south to Anaheim. For a clearer picture, check out this article that I found while looking around at Sactown Royalty, SB Nation's Kings blog.

GAME NOTES

Miami has won 13 of their last 14 games against the Kings, including 5 straight.
The last time Sacramento won in Miami was in November of 2001, a streak of 8 consecutive home wins for the Heat.
Kings rookie DeMarcus Cousins is coming off an impressive showing during the All-Star Rookie Challenge. He put up 33 points and 14 rebounds on Saturday, and in games that actually count is averaging 19.3 points and 13.6 rebounds in the nine leading up to the All-Star break.
Miami has won 10 of their last 11 games while Sacramento has lost 7 of 8.
Udonis Haslem (foot), Dexter Pittman (knee) and Mike Miller (concussion symptoms) are all out for Miami.
Sacramento will be without top scorer Tyreke Evans (foot) as well as Francisco Garcia (calf) and Hassan Whiteside (knee).

Tipoff from the AAA is set for 7:30. Of course you never want to look past an opponent, and a matchup against the 13-win Kings should act as a nice tune-up game for Miami after a 6-day layoff. Hopefully it's just that. If you're going to the game, maybe I'll see you there...Let's Go Heat!!

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Comments

Shouldn't be much of a game...

I’m suprised there is nothing on PIM about Melo yet

In Pat we Trust
"Sorry if everyone thought we were going to go 82-0" - Dwyane Wade
"A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore." - Yogi Berra

by #1Heatfan on Feb 22, 2011 8:27 AM EST reply actions

Was going to mention it but meh…We got a showdown against them on Sunday.

"Yare yare daze."
-Jotaro Kujo

by The One Who Wears The Crown on Feb 22, 2011 9:35 AM EST up reply actions

I was going to write an article about it, but i figure maybe not. I might later.

Co-Writer for Peninsula is Mightier - Your home for the Miami Heat!
GO BIG OR GO HOME

by Keebler on Feb 22, 2011 12:35 PM EST up reply actions

The whole Melo and Amare thing was genius

People are tripping about giving up there whole roster, but all that does is free up cap space for better players to come on the team at the positions they need… THEY WILL NOT WIN NOW, or ever but they will give the Heat a run for their money. (UNLESS WE GET A PG OR C)

** I'm No Ms. Cleo... But even a dummy can SEE that i'm a Fan Of a future DYNASTY**

by 1-THE H3ATLES-6 on Feb 22, 2011 3:25 PM EST up reply actions

Was going to post something but time was not on my side. I had to work the 12am-5am shift last night, then was fighting sleep while writing this blog post when I got home this morning. Still may do something tonight when I get home from the game….we’ll see how it goes.

Peninsula Is Mightier:Your SB Nation Miami Heat Blog Community

"My parents would always say, `It doesn't matter if it`s a guy picking up the garbage or the President of the United States, treat everybody as you would want to be treated.'"- Dan Marino

by David Dwork on Feb 22, 2011 6:30 PM EST up reply actions

My player to watch tonight is Samuel Dalembert

If the current CBA undergoes no significant changes, Dalembert would be my No. 1 free agent target for the Heat next offseason with the full mid-level exception.

Accepting six years, ~$42M might actually be an appropriate price range for Dalembert given the down year he’s having. Certainly it would be a significant reduction from his current pay rate though.

My thought is that Dalembert would be attracted to South Beach and the shorter flights back home to Haiti, as well as the fact that Miami would give him the best teammates and playoff chances he’s ever had.

For the Heat, Dalembert would provide a younger, more athletic true center as an alternative to the Magloire/Dampier/Ilgauskas aging trio.

The Oakland A's: If you have a no-trade clause in your contract, we're in it.

by notsellingjeans on Feb 22, 2011 9:01 AM EST reply actions