The flip side

On one hand, Duncan Robinson endured a miserable 1-of-11 night from the field in Sacramento that included 0-for-6 3-point shooting (the rest of his teammates were 11 of 24).

On the other hand, the Heat guard passed for a career-best 11 assists against the Kings, matching the most by a Heat player this season, with Butler and Adebayo also having had 11-assist games.

“Having an increased responsibility just being in actions and stuff,” Robinson said of the assist output. “So 1 for 11 is nasty work, but just try to find a way to impact the game. A lot of it was guys making shots, as well, which a lot of guys stepped up.”

Respects paid

Kings coach Mike Brown paid tribute to the Heat’s culture, while also acknowledging it is not as simple as asking his own team to replicate.

“No, you can’t. You can’t replicate it,” he said. “You got to have your own culture. In my opinion, it’s hard to do the same thing that somebody else is doing. But the reality of it is, from top to bottom, they believe in toughness, and they believe in playing hard and playing the right way.

“They’re not looking at offensive numbers. They’re looking at defensive numbers, how you compete and how tough you are and then they’re trying to develop those type of players and put them on the floor.”

He then credited Heat President Pat Riley and Spoelstra.

“They don’t care what they shoot from the 3, they don’t care how many pointstheyscore,”Brownsaid.“It’sall about playing the right way, playing with toughness, support your teammates, and that’s what, in my opinion, from outside looking in, that’s what that’s built on.”