Altitude might be regaining its status as a safe haven for the Nuggets.
Obliging Miami’s invitation to play fast-paced, somewhat chaotic basketball, Denver held off the Heat for a 122-112 win Wednesday and improved to 4-0 this season at Ball Arena. They were a lackluster 26-15 at home last year.
Nikola Jokic had a triple-double by the end of a bizarre and experimental third quarter, en route to 33 points, 15 rebounds and 16 assists. He and his teammates benefitted from the departure of Heat star Bam Adebayo, who suffered a foot injury early in the game. With Kel’el Ware and Keshad Johnson splitting minutes at center, Denver out-rebounded Miami 68-44 for a 22-8 advantage in second-chance points and 62-42 edge in the paint.
That and the tempo at which Miami plays helped the Nuggets (5-2) pile on 68 first-half points despite shooting only 43% from the floor and 6 for 23 outside the arc. They also added 12 points in the first minute and 46 seconds of the third quarter, briefly flirting with a 150-point pace.
But every time the Nuggets threatened to blow the game open, they started to get messy. Miami shaved a 17-point deficit back to 10 with seven minutes to go, causing David Adelman to call timeout and retrieve his security blanket from the bench. On a sloppier night for the Jamal Murray-led second unit, Jokic steadied the ship. Denver won his minutes by 18 and lost those without him by eight.
Murray struggled to make his shots for the second consecutive game, going 4 of 15. But he accepted a pick-me-up from Aaron Gordon, who scored 24 points and was on the emphatic receiving end of a few Jokic dimes. Tim Hardaway Jr. also added 18 points on a 4-for-9 night from 3-point range, continuing his hot start to the season.
The 33-year-old guard, who signed a veteran minimum contract with the Nuggets, is shooting 44.7% from three after seven games. He’s playing more minutes than anybody else off Denver’s bench.
The Nuggets have now won nine consecutive regular-season home games against Miami. Other than Game 2 of the NBA Finals in 2023, their last home loss to the Heat was Nov. 30, 2016.
Miami did, however, hand the Nuggets their first deficit at Ball Arena this season when Norman Powell buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key against their zone on the first possession of the game. He went for a team-leading 23 points, but the Heat did most of their leading in the first quarter. Denver trailed by more than seven and never trailed after halftime.
The injury to Adebayo played a major role in that. Ware couldn’t hold his own on the glass, and when he wasn’t on the floor, Jokic was in full attack mode. He bullied Johnson and Jaime Jaquez for back-to-back buckets in the post during the second quarter, prompting Heat coach Erik Spoelstra to get Ware back on the floor shortly after. Without Adebayo, he had no available solutions.
Peyton Watson registered a career-high 10 rebounds in the win. Christian Braun didn’t score efficiently but made his share of dirty-work plays, amassing 11 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
The Nuggets will host Golden State on Friday in their second NBA Cup group stage game after losing to Portland last week.
Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.