The Kings will seek revenge on their home floor and the Heat will want to keep their six game winning streak going but will Wade play?
One week after a 122-103 victory at the Heat's house, Miami travels to Sacramento for a rematch with the Kings at Sleep Train Arena.
The Heat, 22-6 overall, and winners of their last 6, are coming off a Christmas Day victory against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first game of a four game West coast road trip.
The Kings, meanwhile, enter today's contest sporting a record of 8-17 and have lost 4 of 5, including a 113-110 loss to the Pelicans at home on Monday night.
When these two teams met a week ago, the Heat shot an astounding 61.4% from the floor, including a 28-43 for 63 points out of the Big 3. Not to be outdone, Ray Allen chipped in 18 on 8-13 shooting off the bench.
On the Sacramento side of things, the Kings were unable to use their size to their advantage, getting outrebounded by Miami 39-32. DeMarcus Cousins was able to do whatever he wanted inside, finishing with 27 points on 11-15 shooting, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals, but it wasn't enough to overcome 20 turnovers.
Speaking of turnovers, lets just say that the last game wasn't Rudy Gay's finest. Gay finished with 14 points on 7-13 shooting, which is actually quite good, but he turned the ball over 7 times, and managed to finish the game a -24 in terms of +/-, easily the worst mark on his team.
These two teams are relatively similar in terms of their play style - the Kings rank 16th in the league in terms of pace, while the Heat rank 18th. The primary difference, outside of the whole "Miami has two top 10 players and Sacramento doesn't" thing, is defense. The Heat rank 8th in the NBA, allowing 100.4 points per 100 possessions, while the Kings rank 28th, allowing 106.6. The Heat are also superior in terms of their offensive efficiency, scoring 7.3 more points per 100 possessions than Sacramento.
The 20 turnovers committed by the Kings last week were actually uncharacteristic of this team, as the Kings rank 8th in the NBA in turnover rate, so we shouldn't expect to see them post a number that poor again.
Although this has not been made official yet, Heat Nation should not expect Dwyane Wade to play against the Kings, as this is the first game of a road back to back with the second game being against the Portland Trail Blazers, who have established themselves as one of the league's top teams. It just seems logical for Coach Spo to sit Wade against Sacramento and save him for Portland.
For more on the Kings, check out Sactown Royalty.