Tyler Herro’s game-winner lifts Heat over Kings, 110-107

Herro led Miami with 26 points.

Erik Spoelstra called a timeout with 3:09 left to go in the Miami Heat’s Wednesday night game against the Sacramento Kings. Kevin Huerter had just made a 3 to make it a 99-96 game. And Jimmy Butler was out with a hip injury.

The Heat rattled off seven straight points to retake the lead, capped off with a 3 from Max Strus. Strus, who started in place of Butler, had not scored a single point in the first half.

But the Kings came back to tie the game. Kyle Lowry gave Miami a 107-105 edge with 27.8 seconds left when he made a turnaround jumper over center Damontas Sabonis. Lowry, who has often not looked for his shot with Miami, was much more aggressive tonight.

On the other end of the floor, Sabonis earned a trip to the foul line and made both free throws. The score was tied at 107 all with 12.5 seconds left. Spoelstra called another timeout.

And then, Tyler Herro kept his balance on a pump-fake to get a 3-point shot off. It went in.

Sacramento had no timeouts left, and Sabonis committed an offensive foul with just three-tenths of a second left.

The Heat won 110-107, the first time they’ve won two consecutive games this season. Miami had a sub-par start to the year, but defeating the Golden State Warriors and Kings just days after losing to them both represents something to build upon. This game featured 26 lead changes, so it was great for the Heat to end it on top.

Herro led Miami with 26 points on 12-of-21 shooting from the field to go along with 12 rebounds. With Butler out, it was imperative for the Heat to have Herro create offense. Lowry started off strong and had 17 points at the half, but cooled off in the second. (Still, you’ll take that performance from Lowry.)

On the flip side for Herro, fellow Kentucky alum Malik Monk cooked him a few times in the second half. Monk continued his track record of playing like an All-Star when he faces the Heat, scoring 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field.

Despite playing for the last few minutes with five fouls, Bam Adebayo added 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field to go with 11 boards and six assists. Adebayo offered the full repertoire Wednesday night — jumpers, scores at the rim and nice dishes to cutting teammates.

And Adebayo’s backup, Dewayne Dedmon, strung together his second consecutive solid performance after a few abysmal performances to start the season. During one stretch late in the second quarter, Dedmon made a 3-pointer and then had a nice layup moments later. He finished with 10 points and eight rebounds in 16 minutes. That’s all you need from him.

The Heat will next host the Indiana Pacers Friday night at 7 p.m.