Behind another dominant triple-double from three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, the Denver Nuggets blasted the Miami Heat 135-122 Friday evening inside Ball Arena in Denver, Colo.
Jokic finished with a 30-point, 11-rebound, 14-assist triple-double on 11-of-13 shooting and 7-of-7 from the charity stripe across 40 minutes. He was, by far, the best player on the floor–which is a reason why he’s the best player in the NBA, barring none. Jamal Murray had his best game of the season, finishing with 28 points on 9-of-17 shooting–with four 3s–plus four boards and six assists; Michael Porteer Jr. and Christian Braun had 21 points apiece while Peyton Watson, starting in place of the injured Aaron Gordon, had 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
The Nuggets stormed out the gates offensively and didn’t look back. They were getting whatever they wanted throughout the contest, shooting 61.7 percent from the floor and 51.4 percent (18-35) from 3-point range. According to Cleaning the Glass, Denver finished in the 96th percentile in offensive rating (133.7), including the 99th percentile in offensive rating in the halfcourt (122.7).
Miami struggled getting shots up early, but finished shooting 48.9 percent of the floor and 46.5 percent from deep (20-43) behind a pair of second-quarter and fourth-quarter runs. Tyler Herro led the Heat in scoring once again with 24 points and a team-high 11 dimes, in addition to seven boards on 10-of-21 shooting and 4-of-10 from 3-point range. Bam Adebayo had 10 points and nine rebounds while Duncan Robinson tallied 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting from distance.
Jimmy Butler sprained his right ankle in the first quarter and did not return; he finished with two points, one rebound and two assists in seven minutes. Haywood Highsmith, Josh Richardson and Pelle Larsson got ample run during his absence, though it was not enough to complete the 26-point comeback.
The Nuggets have now beaten the Heat in nine straight regular-season meetings, dating back to the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season. Miami has just one victory inside Ball Arena since the 2016-17 season (Game 2, 2024 NBA Finals). Miami’s now lost three straight games after losses to Sacramento and Phoenix, dropping to 3-5 on the season and 0-3 against the vaunted Western Conference.
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I think the Heat will improve.
The NBA is fun.
Nice game by several Skyforce players – Williams, Christopher, Keshad, and Stevens.
They were up by 15 late and lost in OT. That Nix kid from Iowa looks like he should be in NBA right now. A few Sky Force players looked good.
https://gleague.nba.com/game/sxf-vs-iwa-2052400011?view=game-story
I often say you don’t truly know what you have in the NBA until December. But the lack of front-office action this past off-season may negate that since we are running the same team over again.
The reality of Bam Adebayo is that he’s undersized. His strength and athleticism are often nullified against larger, true centers. Additionally, he doesn’t have a diverse offensive skill set, which contributes to the struggles you often see.
I know to some I’m going to sound like a heretic, but if the intent is to land a whale (a great player), Bam will need to be part of the bait.
For those of you who thought Zach Edey was not a very good NBA prospect. Think again.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/grizzlies-zach-edey-favorite-to-win-rookie-of-the-year-award/ar-AA1tNLtF?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=8b989c495f9444dab5f24bf3ca28c4f0&ei=36
he dominated everybody in college.cant teach that size.pat should have traded up to get him.i think he should have been the 1st player taken.
I can’t disagree. He’s a monster. Like Shaq on steroids.
or…..
Heat receive: Jalen Williams, Lugentz Dort, Isaiah Joe, 2 Future First-Round Picks
Thunder receive: Butler
Or……
Atlanta Receives: Dillon Brooks, Josh Richardson, Nikola Jovic, 2026 2nd round pick (via LAC, BOS, IND, Or MIA), 2027 2nd pick via Memphis, 2029 1st round pick via Miami (top-10 protected), and a 2031 2nd round pick via Houston
Miami Receives: De’Andre Hunter, Kobe Bufkin, Jalen Green, Jock Landale, Tari Eason, 2025 1st round pick (via Houston), and a 2031 1st round pick (via Houston)
Houston Receives: Jimmy Butler
I posted these proposed trades from different legitimate sources as a counter to those who don’t believe we would get value for Butler. We definitely would get talent and younger talent at that. Perhaps no one player above is as good as Butler, but between the youth and, in some cases, the picks, the team would have a similar present and much better future.
lol. it’s not even thanksgiving and we’re already researching Jimmy Butler trades?
I can’t complain, I’ve been looking up and down the Rockets roster. Can the Heat get two out of three when it comes to Jabari Smith, Amen Thompson, or Jalen Green?
I love the idea of getting Jalen Williams from the Thunder, but I don’t think they’re breaking up the core of their first place team. I’d be willing to settle for Kuminga and some other pieces, but would prefer the youngsters from the Rockets.
There’s some interesting proposals out there, but my point was that Butler is still a valuable player that would bring a fair return IF the Heat trad him.
My mind keeps going back to the end of the regular season last year.
The Heat were finally Healthy, and had games against teams like Orlando and Indiana. If they won, they would have gotten the 4-5 seed. Instead, they lost most of those games and ended up in the play-in again.
At that point, most of us here knew it was the end of the Jimmy Butler era. Most of us expected a Butler trade last offseason. I don’t hate Riley for deciding to give it one more try with everyone healthy to start the season (it’s harder to fire someone to their face than it is to talk about it on the internet), but I don’t think any of us are surprised by the slow start.
I expect Jimmy to get traded to a Western Conference Playoff team around the trade deadline. I’m not sure what the return will be, but I expect it more likely to be young players than draft picks.
I like the Houston/Atlanta trade, mostly.
Green, Hunter and Eason are on good contracts. Landale is a serviceable vet. Bufkin looks like a wasted three year contract. I would prefer Bufkin to Houston and Whitmore or Holiday to Heat.
I like the draft picks, especially 2025, which Heat could trade up from.
Miami receives five players with three players going out? How does that work? Is there some way to throw Bryant in there somewhere to save money and open up a slot?
What is line-up/rotation?
What happens with Jalen Green, Herro and Rozier? Bring Rozier off the bench?
They would have to send out 1 more player somewhere to make it 15. Like Bryant for one of those conditional second round picks that we would never actually receive. Not sure about lineups, was concentrating more on the possible deals because there are some who think we will get nothing for Butler.
If Miami trades him now yes. If at the trade deadline less. If at end of the season in a sign & trade even less. Tick…Tick…Tick…
What’s going on with Bam, he just seems so out of sorts sometimes.
Like his timing on the pick and roll looks off, may just be the camera angle, may be part of the game plan. I can’t say. But it’s off.
That feels like a system collapse. I always have a feeling, that this team is slow running with several parts in wrong places.
Starting lineup is clearly not the right one. The reason is hard to recognize, but I m afraid, that it is related with combination of Bam, Butler and Rosier or at least any combination of two of them.
That a bad news, since the rest of the rooster doesn’t have enough talent to be competitive.
It seem Jimmy will be out some time, so there is an opportunity to see, if the team play better without him.
Denver was better across the board and they aren’t even the best team in the west. Miami’s half court game is dead. Everybody is using a running game except the Heat. Miami is now behind Charlotte, Brooklyn, Detroit and Atlanta in the standings. WTF?
The clock is ticking on a rebuild.
It is time. Bring on the rebuild. Many of us knew it all along. Some of us are insightful enough to not have to see the losses pile up to quantify it. There is a talent gap on this version of Pat’s social experiment. And, sorry for my bluntness, but that’s why no one else does it quite this way (the Grizzlies are closest and they have an absolute superstar to make it possible, which we don’t have anymore). The real problem is Pat and will he even address it. Anybody out there think Pat had a great offseason now? Anyone think that doing great in the past means you can take a couple of years off from your job and it’s ok? If so I am going to unretire and sit around twiddling my thumbs at my desk and tell my boss, hey, I did a great job in 2022.
denvers right there at the top with minn okc dallas.the bottom feeders dont stay at the bottom forever coolio.pat has been bad lately def holding org back.its time pat to start cruising full time let a young gm acquire talent.theres one cool looking dude from dog bone who can do the job.tick tick tick times over for u pat.love u for what youve done for the heat.u and d wade are the miami heat
Thank goodness for the Panthers. It’s a tale of one city, the best GM in hockey and someone who has become one of the worst in the NBA. Maybe because I follow hockey and get to see the tremendous success of Zito, the brilliance of his moves, how he consistently pulls rabbits out of his hat, that I see the dichotomy so clearly.
riley hasnt been bad but compared to some of the better gms hes come up short to much,panthers havent done sht til recently.but yes zito has done an incredible job 30.now they got it rolling in sunrise.heat had some run with dwade and co.and then jimmy for afew years but its over now.time for him to step down and go and find the next bill zito gm
who are the better GMs? Daryl Morey and his spectacular success last offseason? Or the amazing Bucks trade that has led to their overwhelming success? Maybe the awesome Nets era of Durant and Kyrie?
Riley has been fine. I think Butler had a lot of success with the Heat over the past five years and Riley got a little sentimental. We all knew that the Butler era had run it’s course at the end of last year. I am sure the Butler trade is coming soon.
There are some other bad GMs, true. But, not many who did less last off season than ours in 2024. And how about comparing us to the Knicks, the Celtics, Indiana, Orlando, Denver, Cleveland, Minnesota, Nemphis, Houston, Golden State, Phoenix, even the Lakers, and Philly, and OKC, and Dallas, and Sacramento, as to the direction the team is heading. And there are other teams whose future is bright because they have a lot of picks, which we don’t have. And some have cap space while we are almost second apron, had to get rid of Little to avoid it. Then we got the untradeable, and the hard to trade, and a player who loses value every time injured. These days, our GM does not stack up well against most of the league
sure, I’ll compare Riley to those GMs. How many times in the past decade have the Knics, Pacers, Magic, Wolves, Grizzlies, Rockets, Sixers, and Thunder made the Finals?
Riley has been great. The Heat have been great. The team isn’t good enough this year. That doesn’t wipe out two and a half decades of success. Every team goes through ups and downs. Saying that Riley is the problem is insanity
Thanks heat, but no thanks. I’ve got my hands full just trying to figure out how I am going to cope with the next four years. There are things in life much more important than basketball.
It does look like a rebuild is necessary. The sooner the better. Bam isn’t getting any younger. Heat has a young core. Now the team just needs a young star and assets for the future. There are teams out there willing to trade. Riley just has to pull the trigger(s). If he waits too long, the market value is going to drop, drop, drop and Miami’s future is going to be as a play-in team, or worse, for the foreseeable future.
His wife is a Slovenian, so we dont have to be afraid. Right?
I think several former “satellite countries” have something to be worried about. There is a new paradigm shift coming and it ain’t gonna be pretty. As the saying goes: “Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.” Or: “F*** around and find out.” Folks f’d around and are about to find out.
Wow, usually I would avoid any political discourse. But now, when our future is hard to predict, maybe for just a week or so, until the fog of change lifts, I actually appreciate a little input as these are uncertain times. Power is in the hands of a very few and what they decide on is what will be. All we can do is hope they send us in good directions.
I’ve seen this story before. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
You now, we are like hobits, living our quite life, when orks, and other monsters are lurking around. Now, when former strider was senile, and the new one is the biggest of all orks, it seems that the quest saving the world inevitable. I wonder where a wizard, dwarfs and a hero or two are.
I think they are busy making their exit plans.
good players like ty bam jjj will get u a 6 -8th seed cool one.a star is needed.trading jim now wont get u that much so how do u get a star.only avenue i see is free agency
Trying to stay positive but it does appear that the Heat are undermanned. And Jimmy getting hurt, definitely concerning. We always hope for the best but this trip is going to be tough and we are likely watching our illusion that maybe we are going to be competitive being brought down to earth. The team played hard and gave good effort but there are no moral victories.
its not about positive and negative its about evaluating what is currently display on the ct,positive ty pelle negative just about everybody else.if reality czech wants only positives just listen to that amy lady at halftime she’ll put a smile on his face
The biggest negatives are two huge ones, the deference to Father Time by Jimmy. My eye says he is clearly losing what the cool people call efficiency. And, maybe Bam is shouldering too much load subsequent to Jimmy not being able to carry us and it’s lessening Bam’s efficiency also. The Jovic experiment, to my eye, is, at this time, not working that well, not terrible, but still inadequately. Our bright spots, Tyler for sure, and Locksmith is getting better too. Not Rozier though, he’s still worth having but isn’t lighting it up either. Can’t say what we have with this years JJJ, but he might give us a little lift when healthy. And Larsen has shown real potential. And Ware, well you can see how good he may become, but it takes time. So we are sorta right now just good enough to lose close to the better teams. And with Butler out, we go down a notch further.
I was begging, pleading for more help. And when help doesn’t come and players have to shoulder too much load, often injuries start rearing their ugly head.
Great comment. Spot on imo
Lol. I’m sure that you, and most others who read my posts, know that i can be very critical when doing so is appropriate. There is a difference, at least in my mind, between constructive criticism and simple negativity. I’ve been advocating for changes on this team for over a year now, specifically including advocating for a Butler trade. Someone kept saying no because without Butler we’d be a borderline play-in team. Guess what? WITH Butler, we’ve been a play-in team for 2 straight seasons.
I agree on criticism. I am trying to adjust my approach too. Maybe my posts reflect some frustration with our GM though, as now it appears the Jimmy window has closed, and that does suck. We couldn’t make that one trade to give him that little bit more support he needed, when we were close. We had at least two years, but we whale watched and never got that player. And then there is why did we even keep Jimmy when we ran it pretty much back, essentially only adding a young talent thru the draft and a rotation player, while losing probably a better rotation player. Oh well, maybe it’s time to just move on to the next Heat phase, whatever that be. I really am more comfortable being a cheerleader than a critic. You should hear me on the Panthers blog.
And NBA finalist in one of them.
Both of our statements are true. We were minutes away from losing the first playoff game that season. But they didn’t and went on an amazing run.
I write it down, because any team which made it to NBA finals, is a good team. And the team we have today, is essentially the same team, with some additions, which suppose to be better then those from two years ago.
Something changes, obviously, in those two years.
Good game. High scoring game. Could not fault the Heat. Denver is very good and plays fast. We played against a very good team. I am tempted to fault the disparity in officiating but will hold my peace.