NUGGETS BEAT BY HEAT IN DOUBLE OVERTIME
Nuggets continue to struggle on road as hopes for postseason dim
MIAMI» The Nuggets and Heat kept scoring at such a rapid rate, for so long, that the live stats kept inside the arena and across the internet froze with one overtime still to play.
Also steadily freezing? Denver’s dwindling playoff hopes. Miami outlasted the Nuggets 149-141 on Monday night at American-Airlines Arena in a double-overtime thriller that also served as Denver’s most heartbreaking blow yet to its postseason hopes.
“It’s just one of those games you just hate losing,” said second-year point guard Jamal Murray, who finished with 23 points (5-of-16 shooting), six assists and five rebounds. “You put so much effort in. … They took over in the second overtime and pulled it out.”
The Nuggets (38-33), whose road losing streak stretched to four games, fell two games behind idle Minnesota for the eighth spot in the West.
After ending regulation tied at 118 and the first overtime knotted at 131, the Heat outscored the Nuggets 18-10 in the second extra frame to take control. Power forward James Johnson dealt the biggest blows When Murray came off a screen for a 3-pointer to cut Miami’s lead to 136-134 with 2:55 left in double overtime, Johnson answered with his own longball. Another trey pushed that Miami advantage to 142-134 with 1:20 left. Then he got free for the slam to keep the Heat up eight at 144-136.
Johnson finished with 31 points, 11 rebounds and six as-
sists, spearheading a Heat offense that thrives on dribble handoffs, playmaking big men and longdistance shots. Kelly Olynyk popped Denver for 30 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four blocks off the bench. Wayne Ellington added 20 points, including six 3-pointers for a Heat team that was missing star Dwayne Wade and starting big man Hassan Whiteside because of injuries but sank 20-of-36 attempts from beyond the arc.
“They kind of picked us apart tonight,” said Paul Millsap, who finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.
Nikola Jokic scored 34 points — including the game-tying tip-in with 10 seconds to play in regulation — and added 11 rebounds in 48 minutes to pace a Denver team playing without leading scorer Gary Harris for the second consecutive game because of a right knee sprain/strain. Wilson Chandler complemented with 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting and five rebounds.
After an “unacceptable” Saturday loss in Memphis in which Denver lethargically fell behind by 21 points in the first half, the Nuggets displayed much better energy from the start. The Nuggets raced out to an 11-point lead in the game’s first four minutes. But the Heat answered with a 2110 run to even the contest at 26-26. A back-and-forth second quarter ended with a layup by Goran Dragic just before the buzzer that gave Miami a 64-63 advantage.
When asked to recount specific moments, Murray acknowledged losing track because there were “too many overtimes to think about.” Even an hour after the game, the arena stat crew could not assure the distributed box score was correct.
The only number that mattered? The final score.
“I feel awful for our guys,” coach Michael Malone said. “They did everything they could to try to get this win for us tonight, only to come up a little bit short.”
Added Millsap: “It hurts. We work so hard to go to double overtime and end up losing the game. But there’s still hope. … The door’s not slammed yet.”