After dropping three straight games, the heavily wounded Miami Heat made it four on Wednesday night, after a blow-out loss to the Denver Nuggets on their own home floor by a final of 109-82.
The Heat came into Wednesday’s game with a returning Avery Bradley but were still without superstars Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and now Goran Dragic as well. Dragic suffered a groin injury in the days leading up and was out for the game. The Nuggets, on the other hand, were most notably only missing guard PJ Dozier with a hamstring injury.
First Half
The Heat had to play without three of their best players, and the effects of that became strikingly clear in the first half. By the end of the half, they were down by 25 points to the visiting Nuggets, with almost no offense to speak of. The Heat only had a single lead in the game and it came in the first two minutes of the game. However, that would be all they could muster in the first quarter, as the Nuggets jumped out to a 24-9 lead by about the three-minute mark. The Heat, meanwhile, only had two players score in the first quarter. Those were Bam Adebayo and Kendrick Nunn, who, along with Precious Achiuwa, were the only Heat players to score above 10.
This blowout trend continued into the second, with the Nuggets increasing their lead to 19 early in the quarter. All on the back of great team basketball was this, which ultimately led to their big win. The other positive for them were six players scoring in double digits for the Denver-based team, including All-Star guard Jamal Murray. This was led on the back of a stellar double-double performance by All-Star center Nikola Jokic, scoring 21 with 11 rebounds to go along with it. It was a rough night for the Heat on the offensive side, in comparison, as they only shot 38% from the floor and 29% from three-point land. Just an overall bad game for all the active Heat players, who put shots up and found most just wouldn’t drop on that night.
Second Half
Following a dreadful first half, the Heat came into the second half down 25. Miami found a second wind of sorts and were able to cut the lead down to 9 at the end of the quarter. This came with great ball movement and working the ball inside, rather than getting stuck out by the three-point line. However, more than anything, this showed the grit of Erik Spoelstra and his wounded team, who kept on battling and continued trying to cut down the lead.
That effort died out shortly after the fourth quarter began as the Nuggets ran away with the game and cruised to the monster win. 109-82 was the final, dropping the Heat to 6-11 and putting the Nuggets at 11-7. Even though it was an overall poor game for Miami, there was the positive of Avery Bradley being back on the court, who came away with eight points in 18 minutes of play. But, one thing is clear: the Heat need Butler, Herro and Dragic back as soon as possible.
What’s Next for the Heat?
The Heat host the 13-5 Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday, January 28th, at 8:00 PM. This would be a major win for Miami to try and get them back in the playoff hunt. Thanks to COVID-sniffing dogs, a select number of fans will be allowed into the arena to watch the Heat’s game against the Clippers.
Heat vs. Clippers
Odds Courtesy of “Vegas-Odds“
Over/Under: 215.5
Spread: Miami -5