MIAMI (AP) - DeMarcus Cousins went into the fourth quarter with no personal fouls. By the end of regulation, he had fouled out.
And with that, Miami’s home dominance over Sacramento continues.
Goran Dragic scored 25 points, Tyler Johnson had seven of his 22 in overtime and the Heat beat the Kings 108-96 on Tuesday night - Miami’s 15th consecutive home win over Sacramento, the longest such current streak in the NBA.
“Remarkable, isn’t it?” Sacramento coach Dave Joerger said of Cousins’ six-foul final quarter, one that included three offensive fouls - the last of those waving off what would have been a go-ahead basket with 30.6 seconds left.
With Cousins reduced to spectating, the Heat outscored the Kings 17-5 in overtime.
“I think it was good for us to go through another emotional game,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, whose team stopped a two-game slide. “In the second half emotions were running high. A lot of frustration, a lot of elation, a lot of everything in between.”
Rudy Gay scored 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Sacramento. Cousins also scored 30 for the Kings.
Hassan Whiteside got his fourth double-double to start the season, 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat - and drew the last foul against Cousins. Dragic added eight rebounds and eight assists, and Dion Waiters scored 20 points for Miami.
Whiteside and Cousins were very careful with their words after the game when asked about fouls.
“Good, hard, competitive game,” Cousins said.
Said Whiteside, who was in foul trouble throughout the second half: “I don’t want to speak on that, because the NBA is going to take my money.”
The Heat wasted an 80-71 lead in the final six minutes of regulation.
Gay went on a personal 7-0 run to turn a five-point deficit into an 89-87 lead on his jumper with 1:48 left. The Heat tied it twice from there, meaning the Kings lost two leads - and then their star, too.
“We needed this one,” Whiteside said.
TIP-INS
Kings: Cousins was suspended for both Kings-Heat games last season, the second of those for exceeding the league’s 16 technicals-in-a-season limit. He picked up a tech Tuesday as well, already his third this season. … The Kings shot 38 percent.
Heat: Whiteside, who had an uncle succumb to prostate cancer on Monday and said playing Tuesday was difficult, is the second Heat player to start a season with four double-doubles. Rony Seikaly did it twice. … The Heat are 4-2 on Spoelstra’s birthday; he turned 46 on Tuesday. They have played on Nov. 1 in each of the last four years.
DUNK DIFFICULTY
Whiteside and Cousins had some dunk difficulties in the third quarter. Whiteside went up for a two-hander early in the quarter, only to get it blocked by Cousins and wind up on his backside. About a minute later, Cousins had an open look at a dunk of his own and got stuffed by the front of the rim.
HASLEM DEBUTS
Heat captain Udonis Haslem got his first playing time of the season - and officially making this his 14th Heat season, the most anyone has spent with the franchise. Among current players, only Dirk Nowitzki (19 seasons, Dallas), Tony Parker (16 seasons, San Antonio) and Manu Ginobili (15 seasons, San Antonio) have been with only one team for longer.
UP NEXT
Kings: Visit Orlando on Thursday. Sacramento will be playing for the third time on this five-game, seven-day trip.
Heat: Visit Toronto on Friday. It’s Miami’s first trip there since losing Game 7 of last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals.
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