Basketball / Wade punishes limping Kings

Omri Casspi came off the bench for 13 points in 28 minutes as his limping Sacramento Kings fell hard Saturday night, losing 115-84 to Dwyane Wade and the host Miami Heat.

Wade had 27 points and 8 rebounds before sitting out the "garbage time" at the game's end (most of Casspi's points, however, came in the fourth quarter).

Casspi posted a team-high 3 steals and 6 for 10 shooting, but went 0 for 3 from three-point range. Tyreke Evans led the Kings with 15 points. "We were just going through the motions," Evans said.

Sacramento has lost seven straight games and 12 of its last 13. The team hosts the Golden State Warriors tomorrow in a desperate bid to halt its downward skid.

At least a half-dozen Israeli flags were waved around the lower section of the American Airlines Arena, in honor of Casspi's first trip to Miami in the NBA.

At Madison Square Garden yesterday, the Dallas Mavericks rolled to their biggest win in franchise history, ignoring the absence of two starters to crush the New York Knicks 128-78.

Drew Gooden stepped into the lineup with 15 points and 18 rebounds, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry each scored 20 points, and the Mavericks put on a shooting clinic in beating the Knicks for the eighth straight time.