Riding a two-game win streak, the Sacramento Kings venture back out on the road for a four-game trip beginning Monday in Miami. They'll face a tough Heat team that currently sits at 3-2 after a 120-111 win over the Trail Blazers on Saturday.
Sacramento is rolling. They wrapped up a two-game homestand with wins over the Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards and they are a surprising 3-3 on the season.
Pregame show on NBC Sports Bay California begins at 4:00 p.m., with tip-off scheduled for 4:30 pm.
The Kings continue their road trip with a stop in Orlando on Tuesday evening on the second night of a back-to-back. They'll hit Atlanta on Thursday evening and then finish off the trip in Milwaukee on Sunday before returning home to take on the Toronto Raptors on Nov. 7.
Line
Heat by 8.5
Sports
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Projected Starting Lineup
Kings:
PG De'Aaron Fox
SG Buddy Hield
SF Iman Shumpert
PF Nemanja Bjelica
C Willie Cauley-Stein
Heat:
PG Goran Dragic
SG Josh Richardson
SF Rodney McGruder
PF Kelly Olynyk
C Hassan Whiteside
Injury Report
Kings:
SG Bogdan Bogdanovic (left knee) OUT, C Kosta Koufos (hamstring) PROBABLE.
Heat:
F James Johnson (hernia) OUT, SG Dion Waiters (ankle) OUT.
Rotation Outlook
Kings:
Dave Joerger has shrunk his rotation over the last few games. He's allowed up to 10 players to see court time in the first half, but when the game is on the line after the break, his rotation has dropped to eight.
Harry Giles has been the most noticeable player missing after the intermission, but both Frank Mason and Yogi Ferrell has seen the same reduction in games.
Joerger is focused on using three bigs, including Willie Cauley-Stein, Nemanja Bjelica and Marvin Bagley. In the backcourt, De'Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield are playing the majority of the minutes, with Ferrell and Mason picking up whatever is left over.
Iman Shumpert and Justin Jackson are splitting time at the three. Veteran Kosta Koufos has been cleared to play after sitting out the first six games due to a hamstring strain. There is no word yet on whether he'll find a spot in the rotation.
Heat:
Eight players are averaging in double-figures for Heat coach, Erik Spoelstra. He's relying on Goran Dragic, Josh Richardson, Rodney McGruder and Hassan Whiteside to play roughly 30-plus minutes a night, but he uses a lot of bodies to fill in the rest of the gaps. Dragic is the leading scorers, but both Richardson and McGruder are having strong starts to the season.
