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Cousins, Kings edge Heat in OT

Dec 28, 2013 - 7:02 AM Sacramento, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - DeMarcus Cousins had a monster outing with 27 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Sacramento Kings to a 108-103 overtime win over the Miami Heat from Sleep Train Arena.

Rudy Gay hit a 3-pointer and Isaiah Thomas made a 12-foot pullup jumper as the Kings jumped out to a 94-89 just over a minute into the extra session.

Cousins then cleaned up his own miss with a layup for a six-point lead at the 2:15 mark of OT.

Gay grabbed a rebound off a Bosh miss with under a minute left, was fouled and hit both free throws for a 102-94 cushion.

"Our defense was pretty good down the stretch -- got some big stops, made some big plays and got a good win," said Cousins.

LeBron James hit three straight 3s for Miami in the final 44.4 seconds which kept them in the game, but Sacramento was perfect from the line to seal the win.

Miami made only six field goals in the final 8:48 of the contest.

Gay scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half and overtime while Thomas deposited a double-double with 22 points and 11 helpers for Sacramento, which snapped Miami's six-game winning streak.

Sacramento also halted a 10-game losing streak to the Heat.

James dumped in a game-high 33 points along with eight assists and eight boards. Chris Bosh had 18 points in the loss.

Miami was without Dwyane Wade (knee), Ray Allen (knee), and Chris Andersen (back).

James moved past both Larry Bird and Gary Payton for 29th on the NBA's all- time scoring list.

"Cousins was a big body in there and made some big putbacks late," said Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra. "(Gay) got hot. He made some easy ones, some open ones, and some tough ones. That's usually how it goes."

The Kings led 4-2 early on when James and Shane Battier led a 21-2 charge midway through the first. Battier hit three treys and James added nine points in the run.

During the spurt, James passed Bird in style with a breakaway windmill dunk.

Marcus Thornton and Thomas hit back-to-back 3s late in the frame to cut the deficit to 10, but Miami pushed the lead to 32-19 after one.

Sacramento went on an 8-2 run to open the second quarter to pull within seven, but that is as close as they would get in the first half as Miami enjoyed a 55-45 advantage at halftime.

Sacramento tied the game thanks to a 18-5 run midway through the third quarter for a 72-69 advantage. Gay had seven points during the spurt to help the Kings to their first lead since the opening minutes and they led 74-73 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Norris Cole hit a jumper to start the fourth to help Miami retake the lead. Cousins then tipped in a Gay miss to cut the deficit to 86-85 with 4:41 to play in the game.

Bosh followed with an emphatic dunk and James split a pair at the line for an 89-85 lead at the 2:42 mark.

Cousins halted over three minutes of scoreless basketball for Sacramento with two free throws after a flagrant-1 foul on Chalmers. Gay tied the game at 89 with a turnaround jumper with just over a minute left.

Each team had a chance to take the lead in the final minute but Thomas missed a jumper and James' 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark.

Game Notes

The Kings also snapped the Heat's 19-game winning streak over the Western Conference which was one shy of the all-time record set by the Boston Celtics from Feb. 11-Nov. 23, 1973 ... Miami is 18-3 with Wade and 4-4 without the swingman ... The Kings outscored the Heat 6-38 in the paint ... Miami was outrebounded 51-35.