MIAMI -- The Miami Heat were not about to repeat the 19 points they were outscored by in the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.

On Thursday night, the Heat raced out to a scoring spurt early in the fourth quarter, taking advantage of the depleted Sacramento Kings, who were without their top two scorers by game's end and simply did not have enough down the stretch.

Already without suspended center DeMarcus Cousins and losing forward Rudy Gay to a left shoulder strain in the second half, the Kings faltered and the Heat prevailed 116-109 at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Miami jumped out to a 15-5 advantage to start the fourth quarter, built a 16-point lead and held off a Sacramento comeback bid.

Heat guard Dwyane Wade led all scorers with 24 points and added five rebounds and six assists. Forward Chris Bosh had 23 points and 11 rebounds.

"I felt I was getting great opportunities on the offensive end of the floor and I just felt like I needed to get more aggressive offensively," Wade said. "Sometimes I get into the mode of too much playmaking and maybe my shot becomes second nature. Today, I just tried to flip it."

Kings guard Rajon Rondo was a rebound shy of his fifth triple-double in seven games, finishing with 14 points, nine boards and a season-high 18 assists.

The Heat (7-4) improved to 4-1 on the seven-game homestand and won their 14th in a row at home against the Kings.

"Obviously, they're missing a major piece to what they do, but their style of play doesn't change just in terms of how they attack and come at you and keep on attacking the paint," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "It was not one of our better defensive performances of the season, but there was some better execution of some of the things we've been working on offensively."

The Kings (4-9), on the second night of a back-to-back, start a five-game Eastern Conference road trip 0-2.

Sacramento cut into Miami's lead to get within five, but the Kings came up empty on late possessions while Wade and forward Luol Deng hit free throws to wrap it up.

"Our two superstars were out, but guys stepped up when needed. We were able to make a run at it, but we weren't able to get enough stops in the end," Rondo said.

Eighteen turnovers didn't help Sacramento.

"I think some of it is familiarity, some of it is forced passes," Kings coach George Karl said. "We had the ball in some good situations and just didn't make a good read due to their defense."

Cousins was serving a one-game suspension for hitting Hawks center Al Horford with a forearm to the head in Wednesday's loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

Gay exited with 5:16 left in the third quarter and finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. His shoulder will be evaluated Friday.

Heat guard Tyler Johnson gave the Heat a spark with an efficient 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field off the bench. Starting guard Goran Dragic missed his first six shots from the floorand ended up with nine points.

Forward Marco Bellinelli led Sacramento with 23 points off the bench and connected on 5 of 11 3-point attempts. The Kings shot 12-of-23 on triples as a team and had 43 points from the bench.

Guard Ben McLemore scored 17 points, forward Omri Casspi had 16 and center Willie Cauley-Stein added 11 before fouling out with 2:04 remaining.

The Heat went on a 10-0 run in the middle of the third quarter to go up 72-61 after the Kings nearly erased a 12-point first-half deficit to creep within one.

Heat center Hassan Whiteside scored 10 of his 12 points in the third quarter as early foul trouble kept him off the floor in the first half and Spoelstra opted to go without him in the fourth. He added four blocks.

Forward/center Amar'e Stoudemire made his Heat home debut and exhilarated the local fan base 10 first-quarter points in eight minutes as Whiteside picked up two fouls in his first four minutes of action.

"I've been at the top of this game before," said Stoudemire, who hasn't played since the second game of the season. "I know what it takes to be successful in this league just by example and experience."

The Heat now prepare to host the winless Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday and the Kings travel to Orlando to square off against the Magic.

NOTES: Kings C DeMarcus Cousins missed Thursday's game serving a one-game suspension for a forearm to the head of Hawks C Al Horford in Atlanta on Wednesday. Kings coach George Karl didn't appear too surprised. "Most of the coaches felt there was a chance." Sacramento is now 0-5 without Cousins. ... In Cousins' absence, the Kings started C Kosta Koufos and inserted F Omri Casspi into the starting lineup for the first time this season. ... Heat C Chris Andersen was not with the team while dealing with a personal matter that coach Erik Spoelstra called an "excused absence." Spoelstra expects Andersen to return Saturday for a game against the 76ers. ... Both teams have formidable triple-double threats. Kings G Rajon Rondo registered four in six games entering Thursday and Heat C Hassan Whiteside had one of the points-rebounds-blocks variety on Tuesday against the Timberwolves.