Jimmy Butler (No.22) of the Miami Heat is fouled by Neemias Queta of the Sacramento Kings on March 28, 2022 in Miami. Photo: VCG

 
The Miami Heat reclaimed top spot in the Eastern Conference with a 123-100 victory over the Sacramento Kings in Florida.

Jimmy Butler finished with 27 points and seven assists while Bam Adebayo added 22 points and hauled in 15 rebounds for the Heat, who improved to 48-28.

The win ended a four-game losing streak for Miami, who had dropped games against Philadelphia, Golden State, the New York Knicks and Brooklyn in the past week.

"We were very disappointed about the last four games, and it was trending that way before that, while we were still winning," said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra, who used the mini slump to reshuffle his roster with one eye on the playoffs.

"I don't mind these stretches - they force you to address things," Spoelstra said. 

"There were detail things that we needed to address and will continue to address. We're not satisfied with where we're at."

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference on Monday, the New York Knicks kept their faint hopes of forcing their way into the postseason play-in with a fourth straight victory, downing Chicago 109-104 at Madison Square Garden.

DeMar DeRozan led the scoring for the visiting Bulls with 37 points, but the Knicks were carried to victory with 28 points from R.J. Barrett, 28 points from Alec Burks and 16 points from Mitchell Robinson.

The Knicks are one place outside the play-in spots with a 34-42 record. 

Atlanta, 132-123 winners over Indiana on Monday, occupy the last play-in place in the East at 38-37.

In the Western Conference, Golden State's problems continued with a third straight loss. 

A Warriors lineup missing the injured Stephen Curry as well as Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were pummeled 123-95 on the road by the Memphis Grizzlies, who swept to a fifth consecutive victory with a balanced offensive performance.

Desmond Bane scored 22 points and Dillon Brooks 21 as five Grizzlies players posted double-digit points totals.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr was ejected after arguing with the officiating crew at the end of the first half.

Isaiah Roby scored seven of his career-best 30 points in overtime and also forced the extra session with a three-pointer to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 134-131 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.

Roby shot 11 of 13 from the field, matched his career high of four three-pointers and collected eight rebounds as the Thunder won for just the second time in the past 13 games.

Aaron Wiggins added a career-best 28 points and Theo Maledon had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma City (22-53).

Vit Krejci, Olivier Sarr and Lindy Waters III each scored 12 points and Aleksej Pokusevski added 11 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the Thunder.

Ben McLemore matched his career high of eight three-pointers and equaled his season high of 28 points for Portland, which lost its fourth straight game and fell for the 14th time in 16 outings.

Rookie Brandon Williams added 25 points and set career highs of 12 assists and five 3-pointers for the Trail Blazers (27-48). Drew Eubanks scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Keon Johnson tallied 17 points while Keljin Blevins and Kris Dunn added 10 apiece.