Nikola Jokić couldn’t play the second half because he was a victim of friendly fire, and the Heat’s assortment of bodies outlasted their vulnerable guests, completing their season series at a split (1-1). Miami’s victory also ended an 11-game losing streak to the Mile High killers that stretched back to the Orlando bubble in 2020.

 

The Nuggets had nine giveaways through the first 16 minutes, plus defended and hit the glass like they had the South Beach flu. Yet four of them scored between 10 and 21 first-half points, erasing a 15-digit deficit to go into halftime deadlocked at 63. Then Jamal Murray, Spencer Jones and Jonas Valančiūnas carried them as long as they could, but the Heat outscored them by 23 the rest of the way.

 

Bam Adebayo’s return from back spasms was one of Miami’s big-time reinforcements. He only played eight minutes against Denver on Nov. 5 because of a toe injury, and this time, communication was up to par, so passing and driving lanes were disrupted. It still wasn’t enough to contain Jokić’s 13-point second quarter, as he swerved through schemes for shots through the square and downed two jumpers.

 

The Heat’s edge subsequently swelled to 27 as Denver could never shape up mentally. Powell, Nikola Jović, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware and Andrew Wiggins each logged at least four baskets in the second half. The Nuggets even desperately went to a zone, trying to stop the bleeding, and later surrendered midway through the fourth, emptying the bench.

Takeaways:

 

• The Nuggets went too long treating the game like a meaningless one in December, and the Heat’s intensity on the glass, particularly recovering 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, helped them take 11 extra shots by intermission.  The Heat also got back to pushing the pace, scoring in the 83d percentile in points per 100 transition plays.

 

• The Heat’s 3-point party (10) in the third pushed them to an 11-point lead going into the fourth, after only six treys in the first half. It continued in the fourth, and they finished with 22, falling three short of setting a franchise record.

 

• This was the first time in a while that Adebayo has looked like an All-Star. He can be a fluid offensive player when he commits to attacking the lane. He played 21 minutes, totaling 13 points on 50% shooting, with 10 boards and four assists. Seven other Heatles also scored in double figures.

 

• Jović had some extra vigor for this game, perhaps because Jokić is a teammate on the national Serbian squad. He was strong attacking the basket and tied his career high of five 3-point makes.

 

• The Heat are 7-0 this season when scoring at least 140 points (147-123).

 

• Spoelstra was encouraged by the double big lineup, featuring Adebayo and Ware and said there will be possessions that the combo is not aesthically pleasing. They combined for eight offensive rebounds, despite the second half turning into a tuneup.

 

• The Nuggets’ halftime announcement was that Jokić was questionable to return with a left knee injury after it hyperextended. Jones trampling his foot caused the leg to buckle. Valančiūnas started the second half in his place.

 

The Heat were dinosaur meat, embarrassing themselves in one of the worst showings of the season at home to the Toronto Raptors. The first omen that it would be a colossal meltdown was when they started making one of 12 attempts, but the outcome was clear when they fell behind double-digits in the third quarter and the team had as much animation as a corpse. 

 

The Raptors controlled the pace by making the Heat check the ball in often and getting back quickly. They also wrecked their half-court offense and permitted them only eight trifectas in 30 attempts. 

 

Guarding Scottie Barnes was their biggest problem. He accessed the lane at will, scoring nine of his 10 baskets there. After him, it was Sandro Mamukelashvili’s four 3-pointers that broke their spine. 

 

It was also the second time this season the hosts scored below 100 points, and neither starter made 50% of their shots. They had eight of the team’s 17 turnovers.  

 

They’ve lost eight of their last 10, and there seems to be no antidote as the team has fallen to .500 (15-15). Norman Powell said postgame that players have not run some of coach Erik Spoelstra’s play calls during the losing streak (3). He said that they are a young team that has to focus on the details, but it’s on the veterans- him, Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo- to fix it.

 

Bam Adebayo turned into Dennis Rodman on offense, playing with little confidence.  Kel’el Ware failed to follow up on last game’s bright spots, and he only played 21 minutes. Their best player was Jaime Jaquez Jr. off the bench with 21 points on 0n 56.3% shooting. 

 

The result had Spoelstra stunned:“I don’t know. This is not what I would’ve predicted. I thought we were ready.”

 

But they were lifeless, and it came after he challenged them to have a higher level of effort when they lost to the Knicks on Sunday. 

 

Surviving Jalen Brunson’s rampage is like a raft trying to stay afloat throughout a storm in the middle of open water, and the Heat were tipped over and lost in the waves. He had a season high of 47 points. 

 

New York was the hottest team in the East going into the game, and they buried 20 3-pointers, 10 coming in the corners. The Heat soiling themselves at the line also prevented any chance of a prosperous trip into Madison Square Garden. 

 

The season series is over, split at 2-2, and the Heat have gotten exposed in seven of their last eight outings. Yet the snowball effect started earlier, losing at home to the Cavaliers D-team on Nov. 12.

 

Coach Erik Spoelstra said that “you can’t leave anything to f-ing chances,” and said New York’s will to win is something the Heat are still trying to develop. 

 

Jalen Brunson filleted schemes, getting where he wanted, but the Heat’s desperation was palpable early and five of them combined for seven trifectas in the first quarter. Kel’el Ware’s movement through the lane on cuts also pushed them to a 37-30 lead. 

 

A drought had to happen to the visitors at some point, and it did in the second, yet they kept from bleeding out as Brunson pushed his output to 27 points, and Mikal Bridges made four 3-pointers. The Knicks took a four-point lead at halftime while scoring 11 points on the break and 22 in the lane. 

 

Then Ware made a pair of deep shots and scored from the dunks spot, plus Norman Powell discharged 19 third-quarter points on drive-bys and 3-pointers, keeping the crew within reaching distance. 

 

But the Heat started to fall apart in the fourth despite Ware and Powell being their biggest threats.  They didn’t get enough from Bam Adebayo, who never got in a rhythm with fewer touches, and the closest they got late was within two digits. Yet Brunson, Josh Hart and Bridges closed the curtain with free throws, a layup and a trey.  

 

They lost 132-125 after getting slaughtered in the half-court, and their transition attack was thwarted again. Jaime Jaquez Jr. was their only reserve to log a field goal in the second half. 

 

Spoelstra wasn’t interested in moral victories after the game, but there is one: Ware had 28 points on 73.3% shooting, with 19 rebounds, including six offensive. He is becoming one of the team’s top players, which should make organizing the starting lineup interesting going forward.

 

The Heat ended their five-game losing streak and held the scrappy Nets to 96 points in Brooklyn, tying their season best for contained opponent scoring. But it came at a tougher challenge than anticipated. 

 

They went big with Kel’el Ware next to Bam Adebayo in the main rotation, which was more common at the beginning of the year, and it helped them outrebound their opponents by eight. 

 

If one didn’t know any better, they might think that absences to Tyler Herro, Nikola Jović and Pelle Larsson contributed to them tying their fourth-lowest scoring game of the season. But that wasn’t the case. Adebayo, Dru Smith and Davion Mitchell blanked 10 3-pointers. Although Adebayo had 17 rebounds, and the three of them guarded like madmen.  

 

The crew rode the wave of Ware plus Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s rim attacks, and Norman Powell’s outside shooting. That was enough to offset Michael Porter Jr. and Nic Clayton carrying the Nets. 

 

The Heat started the fourth quarter ahead by four points and managed to get away despite shooting 33% in the restricted area for the period. They also benefited from Brooklyn’s poor off-ball execution and their inability to be a factor from deep. 

 

The Heat even gave rookie Kasparas Jakučionis seven minutes of action in his second stint of the season, and Ware was notably one of the closers in the game. The team pushing the lead to double digits made coach Erik Spoelstra comfortable with giving Adebayo more rest. 

 

It’s concerning that their transition attack was eradicated to 47th percentile (123.1 points per 100 plays) and their pace was 5.58 points below its average. They struggle when opponents exude equal hustle. Yet, to their credit, they won in a style that isn’t preferred, similar to a brawler having to rely on more technical skills to get a victory. 

 

The Heat’s record improved to 15-12 and to 5-8 on the road. They are tied with the Philadelphia 76ers for the sixth seed and 1.5 games out of third place in the East.

 

The next two are in Boston on Friday and New York on Sunday. 

They just can’t beat those guys. 

 

The Heat are only going home with $53,093 earned by losing to the Magic in Orlando in the knockout round of the Emirates Cup play. It’s the third time they’ve come up short against their pin-striped killers, and this time, the bench was dead weight, and they blanked too many open threes. 

 

The Magic set up a date with the winner of the Knicks-Raptors matchup and will at least make double the loot in the semifinals. 

 

The first quarter took 45 minutes, but the Heat held a 30-17 lead after their first seven made shots, including bursts from Tyler Herro and Norman Powell. The Magic also had seven turnovers and were held to scraps in the lane, but they were hungrier, much less going to allow themselves to get sacked.

 

Yet, of course, the Magic caught up a few minutes into the second quarter then took a brief lead in the latter stage as the Heat couldn’t stop them from getting to the body. It was like a fighter who unlocked the sweet spot and had their opponent stumbling over while getting whacked senseless. The hosts also sank five extra 3-pointers, which helped slow down the Heat by forcing them to check the ball more. 

 

Since the Heat is a collection of B-tier players, it took them until the end of the half to compose themselves. The visitors went to intermission ahead 57-56, and their bench was offset by Orlando’s.

 

Herro, Powell, and Adebayo’s long and short range baskets could only do so much because their rivals were the bigger and more athletic team. The Heat even went 19 minutes without a fastbreak basket courtesy of Orlando’s pressure. On top of that, the Magic figured out the zone, going into the fourth quarter ahead by six.

 

The Heat followed up, missing open looks while Desmond Bane’s rampage carried on. Coach Erik Spooestra was caught by the broadcast cameras, telling his crew that they weren’t giving a hard enough effort to get to Las Vegas for the next round but they weren’t able to stop the bleeding, even with the starters staying in until the last seconds.

 

They lost 117-108. Bane had 37 digits for the third time since Nov. 28, which included 15 in the fourth quarter. Additionally, the Heat’s transition attack was derailed to the 14th percentile at 88.2 points per 100 plays.

Spoelstra said after, “They had a huge second quarter… We’ve been struggling with this concept recently. If we’re not making shots, we are not getting stops.”