There are some teams that the Denver Nuggets seem to play well with. The Miami HEAT seems to be one of them.
The Nuggets beat the HEAT, 100-88, on Wednesday. Denver has now won 11 of its last 12 regular season and playoff games against Miami dating back to the 2020-21 season. This, of course, includes their gentlemen’s sweep of the HEAT in the 2023 NBA Finals.
Denver is now 10-1 since the All-Star break, the best record in the NBA over that span. Wednesday’s victory allowed the Nuggets to capture the elusive No. 1 seed in the Western Conference standings. They have a half-game lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“It’s like we’re back where we belong, you know what I mean? We wanted the number one seed,” said Michael Porter Jr. “We’ve played well since the All-Star break .We must “Hold on, though. There are a lot of good teams in the West. So we have to come to every game knowing that people are coming for our place. “
The Nuggets now have an NBA-best 23 wins after the victory in Miami. Only 5 points separated Wednesday’s game with just under 5 minutes remaining, but the Nuggets increased their lead to 14 points in crunch time. They also held Miami to just 17 total points in the fourth quarter.
“We have a lot of guys who feel comfortable in those situations,” Porter Jr. said after the game.
Porter Jr. led the way in the scoring department with 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting. He gave credit to his teammates for his great play after the game… Nuggets style.
“They’re really my teammates, so all the credit goes to them,” Porter Jr. said. “We have a good, well-rounded team, so when they take something away from us, we have another option.”
However, the story of the game could have been about the Denver bench. The Nuggets’ reserves accounted for 18 of the team’s 28 points in the fourth quarter. Christian Braun and Reggie Jackson each recorded 7 points in the final 12 minutes. Head coach Michael Malone told reporters that Denver’s starters told him to let the reserves cook.
“Jamal Murray and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope both at the scorer’s table told me, ‘Let Reggie roll. Let CB roll. This group is playing well,'” Malone said. “Part of our culture is to be selfless. To surpass yourself.”
Jackson was particularly impressive and single-handedly had a 7-point run to help Denver take a double-digit advantage in the clutch. Malone said he hugged him and said, “I’m so proud of you.”
Jackson, who had his minutes cut in half in March, responded: “Thanks for sticking with me.”
Denver got off to a great start and went on an 18-2 run to build a 13-point lead in the first quarter. However, the resilient HEAT went on a 15-6 run in the second quarter to make it a 6-point game before halftime.
Miami took the lead with a 14-5 run in the third quarter. But then Denver’s reserves checked in and Braun powered the Nuggets with 7 points en route to a 10-0 Denver run. With the game separated by just 4 points at 4:50 in the fourth quarter, Jackson caught fire on two mid-range jumpers and a three-pointer when his defender ducked under the screen ball from Nikola Jokić. This gave Denver a 10-point advantage and the Nuggets never looked back.
