Heat falls to Nuggets at end of trip, but attention now turns to Bam Adebayo’s foot injury
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 122-112 loss to the Denver Nuggets (5-2) on Wednesday night at Ball Arena to close its four-game trip at 2-2. The Heat (4-4) now returns to Miami to begin a four-game homestand on Friday against the Charlotte Hornets:
Even after losing three-time All-Star center Bam Adebayo for the night late in the first quarter, Heat battled throughout the contest to keep it competitive. But it wasn’t enough, as the Heat’s struggles against the Nuggets continued.
Adebayo was limited to just eight minutes of playing time on Wednesday because of a left foot injury. The Heat’s chances of winning plummeted after he left the game late in the first quarter, especially since Adebayo was supposed to defend Nuggets superstar center Nikola Jokic for most of the night.
The Heat still hung around, though, competing with the Nuggets in a second quarter that included six lead changes.
But after the Heat went ahead by two points with 7:54 left in the second quarter, the Nuggets closed the period on a 25-15 run to enter halftime with an eight-point lead.
The Nuggets never looked back, playing with the lead the rest of the way.
The Nuggets entered the fourth quarter ahead by 15 and that lead ballooned to as large as 17 points in the fourth quarter.
But the Heat kept battling, cutting the Nuggets’ lead to eight with 42.9 seconds to play.
The Heat had a chance to cut the deficit to just five in the final seconds, but guard Norman Powell missed a three-pointer with 35.9 seconds remaining to erase any chance at a miraculous comeback.
Jokic was a force, leading the Nuggets with his fifth triple-double on Wednesday. He finished with 33 points, 15 rebounds, 16 assists and three steals.
Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon contributed 24 points and six rebounds.
Without Adebayo, the Heat struggled on the boards against the talented and big Nuggets frontcourt.
Denver closed the first half with a 14-1 edge in offensive rebounds and finished the game with a 21-5 advantage in offensive rebounds. That led to the Nuggets outscoring the Heat 22-8 in second-chance points.
“There were so many moments during the course of the game where those are those swing opportunities that we didn’t manage well,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Every time we got it to around six or right, they would respond and it would end up being a 15-point lead. But that’s part of us learning.
“Even without Bam, I thought this was a game we could have put ourselves in a position to win. But the tale of the game would be those relief points, just crushing us on the glass. If that wasn’t enough, it was the cuts for easy baskets.”
The Heat has now dropped nine straight regular-season games to the Nuggets in Denver. The last regular-season game that the Heat won in Denver came on Nov. 30, 2016, when Hassan Whiteside totaled 25 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Heat to a 106-98 victory over the Nuggets.
But the Heat’s issues against the Nuggets extend beyond games in Denver. The Heat has now lost 11 straight matchups against the Nuggets, regardless of whether they’ve been played in Miami or Denver.
When including the teams’ 2023 NBA Finals series that the Nuggets won 4-1, Denver has won 15 of its last 16 games against Miami.
Now the Heat’s attention turns to Adebayo’s foot injury, with an MRI scheduled for Thursday.
Adebayo totaled two points and one rebound in 8:12 of playing time before exiting the game late in the first quarter and never returning.
Adebayo appeared to hurt his left foot during a collision with Nuggets forward Cameron Johnson about four minutes into Wednesday’s game. But he stayed in the contest, wincing in pain as he ran up and down the court before bein subbed out for his usual rest with 3:48 left in the first quarter.
Adebayo went straight to the locker room and didn’t return to the game.
“A guy hit me in the back of the leg and then I felt the pain in my foot,” Adebayo said of the play he was injured on early in Wednesday’s contest. “So, I took it upon myself to check myself out and go see what happened.”
The Heat and Adebayo are now in wait-and-see mode, with Adebayo set to undergo an MRI on his injured left foot on Thursday in Miami.
“We’ll figure it out,” Adebayo said following Wednesday’s loss. “Get more tests tomorrow and then see how it goes.”
The 28-year-old Adebayo is known as a durable player, as he has played in more than 70 games in each of the last three regular seasons.
But if Adebayo is forced to miss extended time, the Heat could soon be in the market for a center or at least bringing back two-way contract center Vlad Goldin from the G League.
After Adebayo went out, the only available center on the Heat’s roster for Wednesday’s game was second-year big man Kel’el Ware.
That led to Ware playing more minutes than usual on Wednesday, as he totaled 13 points, 13 rebounds and four steals in 27 minutes off the Heat’s bench.
The Heat also turned to 6-foot-6 forward Keshad Johnson to fill some minutes at center after Adebayo exited the game. That had Johnson guarding Jokic (6-foot-11) for stretches on Wednesday.
Before playing nine minutes against the Nuggets, Johnson’s only playing time this season had come late in blow out wins over the Memphis Grizzlies and Hornets.
“For young players, it’s just such a learning experience,” Spoelstra said of relying on Ware and Johnson to defend Jokic on Wednesday after Adebayo exited the game. “Jokic manages every aspect of the game in a way that I just talked about. He’s playing the scoreboard, and he knows intuitively when those swing moments are, when there’s an opportunity to take a six or eight-point lead and push it to 12 or 14. He won all of those battles, whether it be an assist or an offensive rebound or just score or bust out in transition to get an easy opportunity.
“When you’re young, you’re just out there trying to be in position and play the game. That’s the next level of it. The experience was great for them, but the next level of it is finding a way to get over the top and impact those moments.”
The Heat also had former first-round pick Precious Achiuwa on its roster for training camp and the preseason before waiving the big man days before the start of the regular season. Achiuwa has since signed a contract with the Sacramento Kings.
Adebayo is at the center of what the Heat does on both sides of the court. He entered Wednesday averaging 22 points, nine rebounds, 3.2 assists and one steal per game through the Heat’s first seven games this season, and has again been one of the NBA’s best and most versatile defenders.
Powell was aggressive and effective at the start, but he was quiet after a strong first quarter.
Powell started the game by scoring 14 first-quarter points on 3-of-3 shooting from three-point range and 5-of-5 shooting from the foul line.
Powell was forced to continue to stay aggressive with Adebayo unavailable, as Powell became the Heat’s clear-cut go-to scoring option in Adebayo’s absence.
But Powell totaled just nine points on 2-of-12 shooting from the field over the final three quarters.
Powell closed Wednesday’s loss with 23 points on 5-of-15 shooting from the field, 4-of-8 shooting from three-point range and 9-of-9 shooting from the foul line in 30 minutes.
Heat rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis was in uniform and available for the first time this season, but he didn’t play on Wednesday.
It has been an unfortunate start to the season for the 19-year-old Lithuanian guard, as he has already dealt with a few setbacks.
Jakucionis, who the Heat drafted with the 20th overall pick this year, played in just one full preseason game after being held out of the first two exhibitions because of a sprained left wrist. Then he missed the final two preseason games and the first seven regular-season games because of a strained right groin before returning to be available for Wednesday’s contest in Denver.
But Jakucionis was impressive in the one full preseason game he was available for, recording eight points and 10 assists in 25 minutes during the Heat’s Oct. 8 exhibition against the San Antonio Spurs.
However, Jakucionis didn’t make his NBA debut on Wednesday despite being available for the first time this regular season.
Instead, the Heat went into the game with the plan of using the same rotation it used in Monday’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers. But Adebayo’s injury changed those plans.
The Heat went with the starting lineup of Davion Mitchell, Pelle Larsson, Powell, Andrew Wiggins and Adebayo on Wednesday against the Nuggets.
The Heat used Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Ware, Dru Smith, Simone Fontecchio and Johnson off the bench.
“Will he play tonight? It’s unlikely,” Spoelstra said before Wednesday’s game, hinting at his decision to keep Jakucionis on the bench against the Nuggets. “But it’s great to have him available. I know he’s excited about it, to get in uniform. He’s put in a lot of work behind the scenes. This summer was really good for him. So hopefully now it’s just a matter of being ready and he’ll get his opportunity.”
With Jakucionis back, the only Heat players unavailable on Wednesday were Myron Gardner (G League), Vlad Goldin (G League), Tyler Herro (left ankle surgery), Terry Rozier (not with team) and Jahmir Young (G League).
The Nuggets didn’t have Tamar Bates (G League), DaRon Holmes II (G League) and Curtis Jones (G League) against the Heat.
It was a meaningful night for lifelong friends who coached against each other for the first time.
For the first time since David Adelman became the Nuggets’ head coach in April, Spoelstra coached against Adelman on Wednesday.
“It’s really surreal,” Spoelstra said. “I’ve known David since he was little. Growing up in the Trailblazer organization.”
Adelman’s father, Rick Adelman, was a Portland Trail Blazers coach from 1983 through 1994. Spoelstra’s father, Jon Spoelstra, was a Trail Blazers executive in the 1980s.
“Erik has been a family friend and unbelievably supportive of me over the years,” Adelman said before Wednesday’s game. “So, yeah, just to see his success over the years, not surprising. He’s somebody growing up, I really looked up to, and his personality has really shown through Miami. So, so cool he’s going to coach the Olympic team.”
Spoelstra often points to Rick Ademan as his coaching role model.
“I have the utmost love and respect for the Adelman family,” Spoelstra said.
This story was originally published November 5, 2025 at 11:30 PM.
