Zach LaVine helps Kings exhale after majestic road performance against Heat originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Kings went to South Beach and played their best game of the 2025-26 NBA season, coasting to a 127-111 win over the Miami Heat on Saturday at Kaseya Center.
Yes, you read that correctly: Sacramento, in the midst of a losing skid and on the road, put together four impressive quarters against one of the league’s best defensive teams in a city notoriously known for distracting its visitors.
To many teams in the league, it could’ve been any other victory. For the Kings, especially at this juncture of the season, it’s a moment to exhale – and release some built-up tension.
“The preparation has been the same,” Zach LaVine told Kyle Draper, Morgan Ragan and Deuce Mason on “Kings Postgame Live.” “We’ve been fighting through it. Everyone in this locker room is a competitor. I’m a competitor. No one is quitting. No one wants to lose.
“We are fighting through a little bit of adversity from top to bottom with the whole team. We’re just trying to figure out how to make it happen. Everybody in this locker room is going to stick with it regardless of what people say on the outside. We don’t care about that. We’re going to keep doing what we have to do.”
Sure, among the Heats’ inactives were guards Tyler Herro and Davion Mitchell, but the Kings, propelled by a season-high 42 points from LaVine, left coach Doug Christie – and Sacramento fans – with plenty to be proud of.
“We work on the defense when get practice days, and when these guys are locked in, we’ve seen them play some really good defense,” Christie told reporters.
“Now, they have some guys out, so you got to understand that. At the same time, they played on a back to back, so there are some things there. But still, their style of basketball plays to everyone on their team. I know with [Heat coach Erik Spoelstra], it’s the next man up. There are no excuses, and for us to come out and play that way mightily impressive.”
LaVine, who also tallied eight 3-pointers, was supported by a pair of King rookies.
After gaining Christie’s confidence through several strong performances, rookie Maxime Raynaud made his first career start tonight.
The Stanford product finished with a double-double, registering 12 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.
Meanwhile, first-round pick Nique Clifford, coming off the bench, demonstrated his best performance of the season, adding 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting.
Before returning home, the Kings will make a stop in Indiana to face the Pacers on Monday.
In the meantime, they’ve earned every right to take in some of the Miami experience.
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