Miami Heat fall to Sacramento Kings in NBA summer league
This was a different look against the Miami Heat at the California Classic on Wednesday night in Sacramento.
Unlike the Heat’s victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in their summer-league opener Monday night at Golden1 Center, when the Lakers fielded a typical summer squad of rookies, free agents, current draft picks and journeymen, the Sacramento Kings arrived Wednesday night with a ringer.
That upped the ante for the Heat, with Keegan Murray, the No. 4 pick in the 2022 NBA draft and first-team 2023 NBA All-Rookie selection, seemingly treating the exercise as if it counted, closing with 41 points for the Kings in the 40-minute game, fueling Sacramento to a 95-83 victory.
“He is a stud, a hell of a player, a hell of a talent,” said Heat assistant coach Caron Butler, who is coaching the Heat summer roster. “He was extremely aggressive.
“He got to some airspace and then was able to will it.”
For their part, the Heat got 22 points from 2022 first-round pick Nikola Jovic and 15 points and six rebounds from 2022-23 two-way player Jamal Cain.
“I thought he was great,” Butler said of Jovic. “He did an excellent job.”
After scoring 22 points in his Heat debut, 2023 first-round pick Jaime Jaquez Jr. this time was limited to four on 1-of-6 shooting, with three turnovers in his 15:41.
“We had a rotation that we wanted to stick with to make sure we saw at least 12 to 13 guys,” Butler said of Jaquez’s short minutes. “We just wanted to make sure we rested our guys as we go to Vegas.”
Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday night’s summer-league game:
1. For starters: The Heat for the second time in as many games opened with a lineup of Orlando Robinson, Drew Peterson, Jovic, Jaquez Jr. and Dru Smith.
Of those four, only Peterson, the undrafted forward out of USC, is not under contract.
Robinson, Jovic and Jaquez are under standard contract, with Smith on a two-way deal.
Butler played Patrick Gardner and Trenton Massner in the opening period, after neither played Monday. Gardner is an undrafted center out of Marist, Massner an undrafted guard out of Western Illinois.
2. Cain back: Cain made his summer debut after missing Monday night’s victory over the Lakers with an ankle sprain, entering late in the opening period.
“I probably should have started him,” Butler said. “He came back without missing a beat, a lot of positives I saw out there.”
Cain has a qualifying offer in place for a two-way deal by the Heat, but has yet to formally be re-signed.
Butler played Cain with the starters at the start of the second period in place of Jovic. Cain responded with an aggressive driving baseline dunk early in the quarter and kept going from there.
“It felt good to be out there with the guys, really wasn’t too tired,” Cain said. “I’m just happy to be back out there.”
3. Jovic converts: Jovic got into a flow as the game progressed, stepping into his 3-pointers with confidence.
Jovic said among his goals going forward was better arc on his shots, this time converting three of his first four attempts from beyond the arc.
“Most of my misses were short, so we were working on my arc and just my connection,” he said ahead of summer league. “And my stance, also. They never told me my shot was bad, there’s always some room to work on, and that’s what we did last year. And I feel it looks a lot better. ”
4. Flopping moments: As part of the experimental rules being tested in summer league, Sacramento’s Keon Ellis was called for a flopping violation in the second period on a driving attempt by Jovic, resulting in a technical foul and a converted free throw by Smith.
The initial play was officiated without a whistle, with the violation called during the game’s next stoppage, when Smith went to the foul line.
Later, Cain was called for a flop when he fell to the court during a successful third-quarter 3-point attempt.
That basket counted, but the Kings then were awarded and converted a free throw.
5. What’s next: The Heat have two days off before resuming their summer schedule at the larger Las Vegas summer league that features all 30 teams.
The Heat open play there with a 3 p.m. Eastern game Saturday against the Boston Celtics.
Among those on the Celtics’ summer roster are former Heat guard Mychal Mulder and former Heat G League prospect Justin Champagnie.
