Can Kings keep up third quarter success?

MIAMI - Kings guard Buddy Hield apparently has this new habit of answering a question with a lot of questions. Maybe winning does that to people.

Hield was asked if the Kings expected any of this after another scoring barrage propelled them to a 123-113 victory over the Miami Heat on Monday night at American Airlines Arena.

“Why not?” Hield said with a smile. “I mean, come on. Everybody expects to win. We expect great things, so, like, why not?”

Willie Cauley-stein had a seasonhigh 26 points and 13 rebounds, Hield posted 23 point and eight rebounds, and point guard De’aaron Fox finished with 20 points and eight assists, leading Sacramento to its third consecutive victory.

The Kings (4-3), who will continue a four-game trip Tuesday when they play the Orlando Magic, have won four of their last five games. They have a winning record despite playing each of their first seven games against teams expected to vie for playoff berths.

“It’s fun as hell, man,” Cauleystein said. “We ain’t played like this in a while here. We ain’t had this kind of energy in a while here, so this energy is just refreshing, man. It’s fun to play like this — playing fast, everybody getting to touch it, everybody sharing their energy. It’s just fun to play.”

It didn’t start so well Monday night. On their first nine possessions, the Kings had three shots blocked, two passes stolen and two air balls. They missed 10 of their first 11 shots and had five of their first 14 shots blocked.

The Heat punished the Kings with a 10-2 run to start the game, led 28-17 at the end of the first quarter and went up by 12 before Sacramento staged 8-0 and 14-3 runs. The Kings rallied to tie the game at the half and broke it open with a third-quarter blitz that gave them a 17-point lead.

The run was so fast and furious that Cauley-stein didn’t even real- Kings guard De’aaron Fox and guard Buddy Hield in 2017. The Kings announced that they have exercised team options for the 2019-20 season for De’aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Justin Jackson, Harry Giles and Skal Labissiere.