(Photo via Miami Heat/X)
The early season elite Miami Heat offense is showing signs of life once again, as Miami cruises to a 147-123 win over the Denver Nuggets at home.
It was the seventh game this season of scoring 140+ points and second in a row. Their 84 second half points was also good for a new franchise record. All of a sudden, the Heat offense is back in business.
The win snapped an 11-game regular season losing streak to Denver, and just their first since the 2020 bubble. Miami improves to 18-15 on the season and climb up to the East’s sixth seed. For the Nuggets, they will drop to 22-10 but have a much bigger problem on their hands after Nikola Jokic had to leave the game before halftime after hyperextending his knee. Jokic was putting on an offensive clinic with 21 points in 19 minutes before the injury.
Instead, Jokic’s absence carved a way for the Heat to take advantage and close it out. They did that and then some.
Miami had eight of their nine rotation players score in double digits. Norman Powell led the Heat with 25 points on an efficient 9 of 16 shooting. Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Niko Jovic combined for 42 points off the bench on 15 of 23 overall. It was the second straight encouraging Jovic performance, as the Serbian forward has looked like he’s getting confidence back since returning from injury last week.
Kel’el Ware and Andrew Wiggins also laid their imprints on the win. Ware put up an impactful 19 points and 9 boards on 8 of 12 in just 24 minutes as the starting big man alongside Bam Adebayo.
Wiggins put up a two-way masterclass in which he did a little bit of everything. The veteran wing posted a loaded statline of 19 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, three blocks and three steals on 60% from the field. Miami outscored Denver by 28 points in Wiggins’ minutes— the best plus/minus between both teams on the night.
As a team, the Heat shot a sizzling 54% overall and 48% from 3-point range. They held Denver to 35% from deep and took care of the rebounding battle 46-36.
The Heat’s next game will be a New Years Day battle between the best of the East in Detroit, where Miami will aim to extend to a four-game win in streak and earn another statement win amidst their recent success.
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Another great game by almost everybody.
Really happy for Nico, Heat really needs that type of player playing well.
He is a huge talent, never doubt about it.
But he is not a Slovenian. He is a Serbian.
Yes. Jovic is looking more relaxed and playing to his strengths. He has the physical tools. He just needs the confidence and attention to detail. He doesn’t need to be Superman… just himself.
As far as Slovenians, maybe Dragic’s son will make to the Heat one day.
There is one, some say, Luka like talent at the age of 17 in Slovenia, Joksimovic.
6-6 or 6-7 playmaker, solid shooter and passer. A modern type of point guard, like Gidey, for example.
He will be on draft 2-3 years from now. We needn’t wait for Dragic junior to grow up.
Great win, even if jokic got hurt in the 1st half. It’s been awhile since we last beat them. Also love that we been getting back to our run and gun offense these past 3 games, let’s keep it up. Also would like to give a shout out to jovic, we all forget sometimes that he still a very young guy. Up until the last 3 games he’s Had an uneven season, but last 3 games for him has been encouraging, so I hope he keeps it up .
Wow a W vs Nuggs albeit minus Jokic, still a big win!! Have to watch the highlights while these two down here figure out their Herro conundrum 😁😉😜
Great team win. Almost had 5 20 points scorers.
Very glad to see Jovic making progress getting his mojo back.
The guys are playing very well and are having fun. This is the team’s formula for success
Ware’s game (offense and defense) is quickly improving.
Jaquez is like having a combo PG/SF coming off the bench.
It will be interesting to see how Herro assimilates with the team and system when he returns.
Riley needs to make decisions on Powell and Wiggins. They can both be free agents this summer if Miami doesn’t give them (team friendly) contracts. He also needs to decide if he is going to pay him or trade him
When Herro returns, he should not be handed a starting role. He is untradeable now, so he will likely be here until next season. He needs to work with the second unit.
Not only is he untradeable, he’s eligible for an extension. Whether Riley is going to trade him or extend him, he should make up his mind and act before the trade deadline.
While he is at it, he should be deciding whether to extend or trade Wiggins and whether to extend Powell before Jan. 6 (when his max salary extension eligibility goes from 3 years/$77.4M to 4 years/$128.5M.
There’s no need to be concerned about the extension. His contract is for this season and the 2026/2027 season. I doubt there is any discussion about an extension this season. The following season he will be on an expiring contract and thus might be easier to move. A team could take him as a one year rental. I like Powell and Wiggins. I wouldn’t mind if they signed both, but I think Powell is more likely to get a new contract.
I understand Miami can wait until next summer to negotiate. However, Herro will then be in the “Butler situation.” If you recall, that didn’t turn out too well.
If Riley and Spo haven’t decided what they want to do with Herro by the trade deadline in order to plan accordingly, something is wrong. He can walk away as a free after the 2026-2027 season. The Herro decision also has a bearing on Powell and Wiggins.
P.S. I agree Herro should come off the bench. That unit would be lethal. Smith, Herro, Larsson, Jaquez and Jovic (if mojo back)
The trade deadline is about 5 weeks away. I don’t see Herro’s trade value increasing much by then. I also believe Herro is nothing like quitter, so wouldn’t worry much about sulking or disruptive behavior. Unless he agrees to a very very team friendly contract, I would try to trade him next season or let the contract run out and let him walk. At least it would free up money. Hfl said he feels we should upgrade the pg position. My opinion is we have a greater need to upgrade the pf/backup center position.
Niko keeps this up hes fine hes6 10 he will be going against backup cs most of the time..For the short time he played vs joker he was better than bams ever been.Why spobot had bam on joker is a scratcherDavs ok but u get to see what good pgs look like offensively and u look at davs offense thats 15 pt deficit every night at that position.Bams got to adjust his game be more of a garbage type player (crashing boards) setting screens.Wares the #1 big just gtfo way of kelel and clean up his misses.Does kelel have low post game?Not sure but hes got nice stroke
Why not get both using Herro and Rozier’s expiring contract (which the new team might not need to pay If Rozier is convicted). I sure there are several crappy teams looking for a scoring guard and an expiring contract.
The Heat have inched up back into 6th and are tied with Orlando for 5th. Third game in a row Jovic played with aggression, and second with good numbers. Again, he doesn’t need to score this much to be effective, but it is nice. Jaquez is having a phenomenal season. And he and Jovic with no turnovers is very important. Nice win. With Jokic, a 63 all tie at the half. I am not a Jokic fan, but hope he is not out long term. He’s a helluva player.