It got ugly in the 2nd quarter. Boos from the crowd, 3 pointers were raining for the Heat (even from center Mark Blount!), haunting memories of losing to Miami less than a week ago, it was getting bad fast. But it's Arco Arena, where amazing happens. It's was the second time this year the Kings erased a 20 point lead, previously their first home game against Seattle. This time, it was an incredible 2nd half effort to erase Miami's incredible 1st half effort. It only took the third quarter for them to erase the huge lead.
1ST QUARTER
In the first half, it was all Miami Heat. Blount made the first 3 pointer for the Heat followed by Jason Williams 2 straight 3 pointers. J-Will went 4-4 in the first quarter from downtown, with a total of 6-10 in only the first quarter. The Heat led in the quarter 27-34, shooting 72% (13-18) from the field. It'd only get worse for the Kings in the 2nd quarter as the Heat would continue to embarass the Kings at their home floor.
2ND QUARTER
The game was heading south for the Kings fast. The Heat went on a 28-12 run to go up 62-39 capped by a Ricky Davis 3 pointer with 3:31 left in the second quarter. The Heat lead 49-69, finishing with an amazing 78.8% shooting (26-32) for the half, including a season record 9-15 (60%) three pt. shooting in a half and a season. The Kings were getting booed by what was left of the 15,028 fans that didn't leave before the second half (a lot of them were still there). After having an off day after a horrible 1-4 trip, the Kings looked like they were never getting an off day for the rest of the season. The game was all but sealed for the Heat. All BUT sealed.
AMAZING 3RD QUARTER
Challenged by Reggie Theus to turn around the game in 5 minutes, or the young guys were going in for the rest of the game, the Kings came out with a fire hotter than the Heat's 1st half. Kings fans couldn't believe what they were seeing.
The Kings went on an incrdible 33-12 run, led by Beno Udrih, Kevin Martin and Ron Artest, scoring the team's 40 points. Martin had 18 3rd quarter points, along with Artest and Udrih's 11 points each (combined 40 points). Martin hit the 3 to tie the game at 87 and Udrih hit the 3 to end their scoring in the quarter, leading 90-89. The Kings made 18-20 free throws, a big piece of their comeback. Miami only scored 20 points, with Artest shutting down Dwayne Wade for 4 points, while Shawn Marion had 6 points.
4TH QUARTER
The Kings would continue to flourish at the end of the game. Udrih dished out 9 assists with no turnovers. Brad Miller finally came out to play by scoring 7-14 points in the quarter. The Heat wouldn't go down without a fight, but Wade and Marion only combined for 9-20 points for the quarter. After a lackluster finish for the Heat, Martin's breakaway dunk was the dagger that sealed the game for one of the most impressive games that they've had in a while. A win for the Kings, 120-109.
HIGHLIGHTS
KINGS
Udrih: 23 pts (9-12 FG, 2-2 3PT FG), 4 reb, 9 ast, 3 stl, 0 TO
Artest: 32 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast, stl
Martin: 29 pts, 4 reb, stl
Miller: 14 pts (7 fourth qtr), 9 reb, 7 ast
Mikki Moore: 4 pts, 8 reb, stl, blk
John Salmons: 8 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast (bench)
Spencer Hawes: 4 pts, 2 reb (1 off), ast, 8 min (bench)
HEAT
Wade: 26 pts, 2 reb, 7 ast
Williams: 18 pts, 5 reb, 8 ast, stl
Marion: 19 pts, 8 reb, 2 ast, blk
Ricky Davis: 14 pts, 2 reb, ast (bench)
Udonis Haslem: 6 pts, 5 reb, ast, blk
Marcus Banks: 8 pts, 2 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl (bench)
Udrih has been phenomenal the past 3 games averaging 24.3 PPG (63.8% FG), 4.3 RPG and 7.3 APG, with only 2 TOs during that span. Martin has been great the past 2 game averaging 27 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.5 APG and 1 SPG. He's finally back on track after a skid. Artest's averaging 25.6 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.6 APG and 1.3 SPG after 3 games. Those are some great numbers for the past 2 games combined.
The Kings went on a 68-34 run to finish the game. They were a new team in the second half. The Heat thought they were going to have another easy win, being that they had an 8 game win-streak against the Kings. They Kings made 12 three pointers after the Heat made 9 in the first half, finishing with 11. Now the Kings look to take on the Lakers, while the Heat try to figure out how they blew a 23 point lead.
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