Make-or-miss-Miami was making them again on Tuesday night.
Sometimes it can be that simple for the Heat, with a dynamic night on 3-pointers sparking a 130-117 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday at Golden 1 Center.
With Simone Fontecchio, Norman Powell, Bam Adebayo and several other teammates stepping up from beyond the arc, the Heat moved to 1-1 on this five-game western swing that makes its next step on Thursday night against the Portland Trail Blazers.
A night after shooting 13 of 45 in a blowout loss to the Golden State Warriors, the Heat this time found their range even while lacking two of their prime 3-point threats, with Kel’el Ware missing his first game of the season as he deals with a hamstring issue and Tyler Herro remaining behind in Miami with his rib injury.
No matter, not with Adebayo draining four 3-pointers on his 25-point night, Powell four of his own on his 22-point night, Andrew Wiggins three in his 19-point outing and Fontecchio five to account for his 15 points.
The Heat closed the night 21 of 42 from beyond the arc, as they avenged their 127-111 Dec. 6 home loss to the Kings. Sacramento on that night got 42 points from Zach LaVine, who this time closed with 18.
Five Degrees of Heat from Tuesday night’s game:
1. Game flow: The Heat led 32-25 after the first quarter and 77-64 at halftime.
It was the 10th time in their 44 games the Heat reached 70 by halftime, scoring more in a first half only once this season.
That first half included 15-of-24 accuracy on 3-pointers. As a matter of perspective, the Heat entered averaging 13.2 3-pointers per game. The 15 first-half 3-pointers were a season high and the second highest total in a first half in franchise history.
The defenses then settled in, with the Heat taking a 100-89 lead into the fourth quarter.
From there, the Heat pushed their lead to 17 in the fourth.
2. Bam bounceback: At the outset, it appeared it would be a case of Adebayo picking up where he left off a night earlier against the Warriors, when he closed 1 of 13 from the field.
This time, Adebayo was 1 of 4 from the field in the first quarter.
To his credit, Adebayo came around by shooting 3-of-4 in a 10-point second quarter, a quarter he came to be defense of Heat forward Pelle Larsson after Larsson took a hard foul from DeMar DeRozan.
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3. Speaking of: With the Heat again shorthanded, Larsson made his 23rd start in his 36th appearance this season, his fourth in a row.
Larsson already had tied his previous career high of eight assists by halftime, when he also was 4 of 4 from the field for eight points.
He closed with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting, with nine assists and six rebounds.
4. Powell from deep: Powell stood at the forefront of that first-half 3-point barrage, at 4 of 5 from beyond the arc over the opening two periods.
Powell was up to 15 points by halftime, as he continues to chase his first All-Star berth, with All-Star reserves, as selected by conference coaches, to be named Feb. 1.
5. Rotation revision: The bench rotation was altered even beyond Ware’s appearance, with Myron Gardner getting first-half minutes as Dru Smith sat out for the first time this season.
Ware’s absence had Nikola Jovic back in the rotation mix, after he had been limited to four minutes of mop-up duty at the end of Monday night’s blowout loss to the Warriors.
