Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Heat fail to pull off comeback in Denver versus the Nuggets

The touring Miami Heat were overmatched by the Denver Nuggets in Jamal Murray’s return, suffering its third straight loss. Nikola Jokić created overreactions for himself and his teammates. Vintage Murray torched the perimeter. And the Nuggets shot 61.7% from the field, including 51.4% from deep.

The Nuggets only needed four minutes of action to take a double-digit lead, thanks to multiple made threes and baskets on the break plus Nikola Jokić attacking the close-range mismatch. Then, they kept pushing the pace.

But Tyler Herro kept the Heat burning with a score in transition, attacking the Joker on the left side and setting up Nikola Jović and Bam Adebayo in the paint.

The Heat was down 27-40 after the first quarter.

The visitors started the second frame in the 2-2-1 press and the 2-3 zone as Jokić rested. By the time Denver’s reigning MVP came back, Herro, Adebayo Duncan Robinson, Haywood Highsmith, and Josh Richardson pulled the score to 37-40.

Subsequently, Murray blasted deep protections in the corner and top of the key against drop coverage plus finished up close on a post-up. Christian Braun and MPJ added three trays in the period.

Next, the Heat were down at halftime, 60-71. Additionally, the squad had 22 paint points, seven on the break, four via second chances and 22 from the bench.

The Nuggets had 26 interior marks, 16 on the break, four on extra tries and five from the reserves.

Then Highsmith started the third quarter instead of Jović, but it didn’t matter. The Heat went down 15 points further as the Nuggets rattled off five of six baskets at the rim and from deep, forcing Heat coach Erik Spoelstra to call a brief stoppage.

But the Heat kept clawing as the Nuggets took their feet off the accelerator, and eventually, the fourth quarter started with the crew down 14 points.

 In the last stretch, Herro, Adebayo, Robinson and Highsmith cut the deficit to seven points with four minutes left. But the team ran out of juice.

At the postgame presser, Spoelstra was asked about the transition defense in the first half. He said three or four of Jokić’s long passes zipped past the team’s ears.

Observations:

1. The Heat converted 47% of attempts in the first half, with just four turnovers and a lousy 115.4 defensive rating. The Heat’s defensive rating in the second half was 125.5.

2. Adebayo didn’t finish with the most efficient line- 20 points on 38.9% shooting-but he was anchoring the defense in the back mostly well, save for the times Murray beat him in drop coverage.  When asked about that in the locker room, he said it was about picking your poison. In that case, it was wrong because threes count for more.

Most of the plays Jokić went at him were defended well, but they still went in. As usual, Adebayo’s at his best when zooming to the rim on offense.

After the game, Adebayo was doing weighted calf raises with one of the trainers.

3. Nikola Jokić made easy work of the defense on 10 close-range baskets. He logged a triple-double before the third quarter ended. And he made Miami’s rookie pay. When Kel’el Ware checked in, Jokić went at him in the post and finished on the break after the novice’s ill-advised mid-range floater put the Heat in trouble.

4. Highsmith continues to be a bright spot for the Heat on both sides. He was perfect from the field in three tries in the fourth quarter for seven points, too.

5. Jimmy Butler defended Michael Porter Jr. early, giving up a curl cut through the middle and was successfully shot over on the left side. He played under seven minutes because he sprained his right ankle on a hard stop.

6. Jović was benched after his first stretch in the first quarter until midway through the third frame. Spoelstra didn’t give him much leash after getting scored on multiple times in the half-court and transition. After Spo decided to put him back in, the Nuggets picked on him.

When asked what Jović could do to stay on the court longer, Spoelstra said his forward is an easy target for blame, but that standards wouldn’t be sacrificed.

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