Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 147-123 win over the Denver Nuggets (22-10) on Monday night at Kaseya Center to finish the two-game homestand at a perfect 2-0. The Heat (18-15) now enters a two-day break before hitting the road to take on the Pistons in Detroit on Thursday:
The Nuggets lost Nuggets three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic midway through the game, and the Heat took advantage to win its third straight game and put together another explosive offensive performance.
What appeared to be on the way to being a tight game decided in the final minutes turned into a blowout after Nuggets three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic hurt his left knee at the end of the first half.
After stuffing the box score with 21 points, five rebounds and eight assists in the first half to bring the Nuggets back from a 15-point second-quarter deficit and enter halftime with the score tied at 63, Jokic didn’t play in Monday’s second half because of his knee injury.
The Heat took full advantage of Jokic’s absence, opening the third quarter on a 26-9 run to blow the game open and take a 17-point lead just five minutes into the period.
The Heat eventually extended its lead to as many as 27 points in the second half on the way to the 24-point victory.
There were quality contributions from throughout the Heat’s rotation, as eight players finished with double-digit points.
Heat guard Norman Powell finished with a team-high 25 points.
Off the Heat’s bench, Nikola Jovic added 22 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 20 points.
Heat center Kel’el Ware totaled 19 points and nine rebounds. Heat forward Andrew Wiggins contributed 19 points, five rebounds, six assists, three steals and three blocks.
The Heat reached the 140-point mark for the seventh time this season, with Monday’s 147-point display marking the third-highest scoring performance in franchise history. It’s also the most points that the Heat has scored this season.
The Heat set a new record in the process, totaling 84 points in the final two quarters for the highest scoring second half in franchise history.
The Nuggets’ injury-depleted roster just did not have enough to keep with the Heat in the second half. Along with missing its best player in Jokic for the entire second half, Denver also entered Monday’s game without Christian Braun (left ankle sprain), Aaron Gordon (right hamstring strain) and Cameron Johnson (right knee injury management).
The Heat has now won three straight games after losing eight of the previous nine games.
Heat center Bam Adebayo made his return, but didn’t need to do much in the blowout victory.
After missing the last two games with nagging injuries that the Heat labeled as “lower back soreness,” Adebayo was back in the Heat’s starting lineup on Monday. Adebayo totaled 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and 1-of-2 shooting from three-point range, 10 rebounds, four assists and one steal in 21 minutes.
“I just know he needed it right now. He wasn’t ready to play two games ago, for sure, the way he was moving,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo’s two-game break. “But it allowed him to spend a lot of time with the rehab and corrective exercises, just getting realigned. I think that’ll get him in a better place, for sure, than where he was. And we’ll find out. He’s done everything he possibly can do to get ready for tonight. I know he wants to be out there.”
Before the decision was made to keep Adebayo out for two games, he was struggling to meet his usual high standards as he dealt with various ailments.
Adebayo averaged just 11.8 points per game on 18-of-48 (37.5 percent) shooting from the field in his last four games before the decision was made for him to miss some time. Adebayo entered Monday averaging his fewest points since his third NBA season at 18 points per game this season, and he’s also shooting a career-low 46.6 percent from the field in his ninth NBA season.
With Adebayo back, guard Pelle Larsson returned to a bench role. But Larsson then went out with another sprained ankle.
Larsson, who started the previous two games while Adebayo was out, moved back to the bench. But he only played 15 minutes before exiting Monday’s contest with 11:34 left in the fourth quarter because of a sprained right ankle and not returning.
Larsson recently missed five straight games earlier this month with a sprained left ankle. Monday marked just his third game back from that ankle injury, and now he’s dealing with a sprain to his other ankle.
With Larsson opening Monday’s contest in a reserve role, the Heat went with a starting lineup of Davion Mitchell, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Adebayo and Kel’el Ware on Monday. It marked the seventh game that this group has started this season, as the Heat improved to 4-3 in those games after Monday’s win.
Larsson played off the bench against the Nuggets after starting in 18 of his first 26 appearances this season. The Heat is 12-6 this season in Larsson’s starts.
Larsson, who is in his second NBA season, finished Monday’s win with three points and two rebounds before leaving the game early in the fourth quarter. He shot 1 of 5 from the field and 1 of 3 from three-point range.
Jovic continued his best stretch of the season after recently returning from injury.
Jovic turned in one of the best performances of his fourth NBA season, totaling 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 shooting on threes, four rebounds and five assists in 26 minutes.
After missing four straight games because of a right elbow contusion/laceration, Jovic has returned to produce an encouraging three-game stretch following his rough start to the season.
Jovic has averaged 17 points, six rebounds and 14 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game over the last three games since returning from injury. He has scored double-digit points in each of the three games.
This is a much-needed positive stretch for Jovic, who has fallen out of the Heat’s rotation before missing time with his elbow issue.
Before this three-game stretch, Jovic was averaging just 7.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 39 percent from the field and 28.3 percent from three-point range in his first 19 appearances of the season.
In fact, Jovic had scored double-digit points just once in 20 games before recording double-digit points in each of the last three games.
The Heat finally earned a regular-season win over the Nuggets.
Monday’s win snapped the Heat’s 11-game regular-season losing skid against the Nuggets. When including the teams’ 2023 NBA Finals series that the Nuggets won 4-1, Denver had won 15 of its last 16 games against Miami prior to Monday’s result.
The Heat had also dropped eight straight games to the Nuggets in Miami, including the 2023 NBA Finals, before Monday’s home win. It marked the Heat’s first win over the Nuggets in Miami since a double-overtime victory on March 19, 2018.