The Miami Heat will travel to the Golden 1 Center on Friday night as they continue their Western Conference road trip with a matchup versus the Sacramento Kings.
The Heat may have come up short in their last game but they won the NBA Trade Deadline. Miami remains in the chase for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 34-16 overall record but they are 2.5-games back of the Toronto Raptors for that spot. For now, the Heat sit in fourth place in the East but they will have a chance to make their stretch run with a three-time NBA Champion after acquiring Andre Igoudala from the Memphis Grizzlies. Can Sacramento take advantage of a Heat team that has a lot of moving pieces at home on Friday night?
Jones career-high 25 isn’t enough vs. Clippers
The Heat snapped a two-game winning streak with a 128-111 loss on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers. Derek Jones Jr. led the way with a career-high 25 points off of the bench while Bam Adebayo had 22 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists in a losing effort for the Heat, who were outscored by 20 points in the second half. The Heat are just 12-13 on the road this season, including just 3-7 against Western Conference teams away from home.
Miami made arguably the biggest splash at the NBA trade deadline, sending 23-year-old small forward Justice Winslow, James Johnson, and Dion Waiters to Memphis in exchange for Solomon Hill, Jae Crowder, and Andre Igoudala. Igoudala, 35, will join Butler and Adebayo to form one of the NBA’s best defensive trios come playoff time. Meanwhile, Crowder will also be a useful rotation piece for Erik Spoelstra and brings additional playoff experience to the Heat. Miami currently ranks in the middle of the pack with a 108.5 defensive rating (14th in the NBA).
Sacramento takes down TWolves behind 31 from Fox
The Kings took down the Minnesota Timberwolves 113-109 on Monday night behind 31 points from point guard De’Aaron Fox. Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 23 points and made five free throws in the final 69 seconds to help stave off a late TWolves run for their fourth win in six games.
The Kings weren’t as active as most people expected at the trade deadline but they did make a move. Sacramento fulfilled veteran Dwayne Dedmon’s trade request, shipping him to the new-look Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Jabari Parker and Alex Len. Sacramento is also sending two second-round picks to Atlanta in the deal. Parker, 24, and Len, 26, are former top-five picks that have battled injuries and struggled to carve out consistent roles in the NBA. Parker last played on Jan. 3 and recently underwent a non-surgical procedure on his injured right shoulder. Len has played 40 games for the Hawks, averaging 8.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
The main takeaway from all this is that the Kings have positioned themselves to keep swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic long-term. The Dedmon deal will allow Sacramento to match offer sheets offered to Bogdanovic over the summer when he becomes a restricted free agent. According to NBC California, the Kings are prepared to do just that after saving $6.8 million in the deal, and if Parker opts out, those savings climb to a whopping $13.3 million for next year.
Sacramento will also welcome back center Richaun Holmes, who has been out 13 games with a shoulder injury. Prior to getting hurt, Holmes was having a breakout season, averaging 13.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. He practiced and is expected to make his return against Miami on Friday night.
