Heat’s home streak ends, as defense struggles to stop Jokic-led Nuggets. Takeaways from loss
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 112-108 loss to the Denver Nuggets (40-18) on Monday night at Miami-Dade Arena. The Heat (32-26) now travels to face the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday before heading into the All-Star break:
In a battle between Denver’s elite offense and Miami’s elite defense, the Nuggets’ offense won and that proved to be the difference in the game.
The Nuggets, which entered with the NBA’s second-best offensive rating and the top record in the Western Conference, totaled 112 points on an ultra-efficient 57.9 percent shooting from the field, 11-of-28 (39.3 percent) shooting from three-point range and 13-of-15 (86.7 percent) shooting from the foul line while committing just 13 turnovers. It was an uncharacteristic outing for the Heat, which entered with the league’s fifth-best defensive rating.
The Nuggets recorded an offensive rating of 124.4 points scored per 100 possessions. It marked the third-highest single-game offensive rating that Miami’s defense has allowed this season.
Two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 27 points on 12-of-14 shooting from the field, 12 rebounds and eight assists. After Denver was outscored by eight points in Jokic’s minutes in the first quarter, he was a plus-13 over the final three quarters.
“I don’t even know how to describe that,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said of defending Jokic. “He’s very slow-paced and on his own time. The one thing I can give him, though, is he’s very patient.”
Even with the Nuggets’ excellent offensive performance, it still ended up as the Heat’s league-leading 41st clutch game (one that has a margin of five points or fewer inside the final five minutes of the fourth quarter).
The Heat kept the score close with the help of 24 second-chance points on nine offensive rebounds and a low nine-turnover night to end the game with a big 89-76 edge in field-goal attempts. But the Nuggets’ negated that advantage with their efficient shooting.
The Heat still found itself in a position to escape with the victory in the final minute with the ball while trailing by four points with 50.7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Max Strus missed a jumper with 34 seconds to play, as Miami came up empty on the critical possession. Jimmy Butler then missed an open layup on the Heat’s next possession that would have cut the deficit to two points with 13.7 seconds remaining.
Christian Braun went on to make one of two free throws to extend the Nuggets’ lead to five with 7.3 seconds left and seal the win.
“He’s a great player,” Strus said of Jokic. “He makes everybody around him better. But their guys stepped up and made shots. Tough team to beat. Obviously, they’re No. 1 in the West for a reason and they played a good game tonight.”
It was a competitive game from the start. The first half included 13 lead changes and five ties before ending with the Nuggets entering halftime with a 65-62 lead.
The Nuggets’ offense was sharp from the start, shooting 65.8 percent from the field, 8 of 14 (57.1 percent) on threes and 7 of 7 from the foul line in the first two quarters to record an eye-opening offensive rating of 151.2 points scored per 100 possessions in the first half. It’s the highest offensive rating the Heat’s defense has allowed in a single half this season.
Butler nearly recorded a triple-double for the Heat in the loss, finishing with 24 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
Adebayo contributed 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field and 7-of-7 shooting from the foul line, two rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block.
Strus scored 23 points on a team-high 20 field-goal attempts for the Heat.
In his fifth straight start in place of the injured Kyle Lowry, Heat guard Gabe Vincent closed with 15 points, two rebounds and four assists.
“I think we did a lot of things to put ourselves in a position to have a chance to win it,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We just didn’t do those three or four more things that would have been necessary tonight. Because they are unique. It’s not something that you’re seeing every single night just in terms of the cutting and the passing and a lot of those easy baskets that are just totally random off of non–pick-and-roll basketball that this league has become.”
The Heat fell to 23-18 in clutch games and 20-12 in games decided by five points or less this season.
The Heat continues to play close games at a historic rate this season, as it’s on pace to finish with 45 games decided by five points or less. The NBA’s all-time team record for the most games decided by five points or less during a single season is 41 by the Nuggets in 1977-78.
The Heat continues to field a short-handed roster with just 10 available players for Monday’s game. The Nuggets were also missing key players.
The Heat was without Tyler Herro (left knee contusion), Nikola Jovic (lower back stress reaction), Lowry (left knee soreness), Victor Oladipo (right ankle sprain), Duncan Robinson (finger surgery) and Omer Yurtseven (left ankle surgery).
Those absences left the Heat with just two drafted players available for Monday’s matchup against the Nuggets — Adebayo and Butler.
Monday marked the first game Herro has been unavailable for, the 21st consecutive game Jovic has sat out because of his back issue, the fifth straight game Lowry has missed because of his sore left knee, the sixth consecutive game Oladipo has been held out with a sprained ankle, the 20th straight game Robinson has missed after finger surgery, and Yurtseven has yet to play this season.
Herro was added to the list after a knee-to-knee collision during Saturday’s win over the Magic in Orlando. The Heat has labeled Herro as day-to-day.
Coincidentally, Herro has accepted an invite to take part in the Three-Point Contest at All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City, according to a league source. It remains to be seen if the knee contusion will change Herro’s plans.
Lowry was again not at Miami-Dade Arena for Monday’s loss because of what the team labeled as an excused absence.
The Heat has just one game left to play — Wednesday against the Nets in Brooklyn — before the All-Star break. Miami resumes its schedule following the break on Feb. 24 in Milwaukee against the Bucks.
The Nuggets were without starters Aaron Gordon (left rib contusion) and Jamal Murray (right knee inflammation) against the Heat.
The injury-depleted Heat was left with a three-man bench rotation that included two undrafted rookies who have spent time in the G League this season.
The Heat went with a bench rotation of center Orlando Robinson, forward Haywood Highsmith and guard Jamaree Bouyea.
Robinson, who is on a two-way contract with the Heat, and Bouyea, who signed a 10-day contract with the Heat last week, both have played double-digit games for the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, this season.
Robinson went undrafted out of Fresno State and Bouyea went undrafted out of San Francisco this past summer.
Robinson closed Monday’s loss with six points and six rebounds in 14 minutes. He’s eligible to be on the Heat’s active roster for just five more games this regular season as part of his two-way contract before he’s either forced to log the rest of his game minutes in the G League this season or the Heat converts him to a standard deal to make sure he’s available for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs.
Bouyea impressed with the best game of his young NBA career, finishing Monday’s loss with 10 points, two rebounds, three assists, three steals and one block in 28 minutes. His 10-day contract with the Heat that he signed on Wednesday is set to expire shortly after the All-Star break.
The Heat’s struggles against the Nuggets and Jokic continued.
The Heat has now dropped six straight games and 11 of its previous 13 meetings against the Nuggets and Jokic dating back to the 2016-17 season.
That includes a 124-119 loss to the Nuggets in Denver on Dec. 30 earlier this season.
“It probably makes it even more challenging that you only face them twice a year and then you’re trying to put in a game plan either in a shootaround or like today in a walkthrough,” Spoelstra said of the unique challenge the Jokic-led Nuggets offense presents. “If you face them multiple games in a row, you would have to come up with some guidelines. But it is certainly unique. It’s not just 60 pick-and-rolls that you’re typically seeing.”
The Heat lost at home for the first time in more than a month.
The defeat snapped the Heat’s eight-game winning streak at Miami-Dade Arena. It marked Miami’s first home loss since falling to the Brooklyn Nets on Jan. 8.
The Heat dropped to 19-10 in games played in Miami this season, a quality record despite outscoring teams by just 1.4 points per 100 possessions at home. That’s because 13 of the Heat’s 19 home wins have been decided by five points or less.
With the upcoming All-Star break putting a pause on the regular season, the Heat will have to wait a bit to start a new home winning streak. The Heat’s next game in Miami is on March 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Also worth noting: With the New York Knicks winning and the Heat losing on Monday, the sixth-place Heat is now just one-half game ahead of the seventh-place Knicks in the Eastern Conference standings.
This story was originally published February 13, 2023 at 10:04 PM.
