Postseason in peril in Miami
Wrenching loss leaves Heat tied for 8th
MIAMI — Fighting the good fight ultimately might only have gotten the Miami Heat so far.
Because after these past two games, first Friday night's loss to the New York Knicks and Sunday's 116-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets at AmericanAirlines Arena, time is running out for a team trying to make the climb back from that 11-30 midseason record.
Unable to push past a team already on life support in the playoff race, the Heat now play three of their final five games on the road, all against teams in playoff contention, possibly to stand No. 10 in the East by the next time they take the court.
With Danilo Gallinari scoring 29 points, mostly over undersized Heat defenders, and Nikola Jokic adding 19, the Nuggets never trailed by more than a single point at any stage.
The Heat got 22 points from guard Goran Dragic and 16 points and 12 rebounds from center Hassan Whiteside.
The game ended with Heat guard Josh Richardson missing a potential game-tying 3-pointer just before the final buzzer.
Whiteside reached a pair of milestones in the first period, becoming the first Heat player to reach 1,000 rebounds in a season, and therefore also the franchise's first player with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a season. Also, with his 55th double-double, Whiteside tied Rony Seikaly's single-season record.
Both teams were shorthanded, with the Heat again without Dion Waiters and the Nuggets without Jameer Nelson, Will Barton and Darrell Arthur.
The Heat had to play the closing stages without starting power forward Luke Babbitt, who left in the third period with a hip flexor strain, further depleting a shorthanded Heat roster.
The Nuggets entered 21⁄2 games behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the eighth and final playoff seed in the Western Conference.
The Heat made their final push when Tyler Johnson and James Johnson were inserted with 4:08 to play and the Heat down 105-102.
A Gallinari 3-pointer with 2:11 to play later pushed the Nuggets to a 110-104 lead, with a Whiteside turnover following on the other end.
That's when Richardson converted his fourth 3-pointer of the game to draw the Heat within 110-107 before Emmanuel Mudiay scored in transition on the other end for a 112-107 Denver lead with 1:17 left.
James Johnson then converted a 3-pointer with 1:08 left to being the Heat within 112-110, but Jokic then converted a jumper for a 114-110 Denver lead, with Tyler Johnson seeing his shot blocked on the other end.
Ultimately, the Heat regained possession down 114-110 with 17.4 seconds to play, after a Nuggets 24-second violation.
A Tyler Johnson 3-pointer with 10.8 seconds to play then drew the Heat within 114-113.
Nuggets guard Jamal Murray then was fouled with 9.5 seconds to play and both teams out of timeouts.
Murray, in his first trip of the game to the line, converted both for a 116-113 Denver lead.
A Richardson 3-pointer with 10:08 to play had given the Heat their first lead of the game at 94-93.