LeBron James and the Miami Heat overcome the Denver Nuggets 103 -98
The Miami Heat’s Big Three combined for 83 points to silence the Denver Nuggets 103-98 here at the American Airlines Arena on Saturday, March 19. LeBron James went 15-for-25 on his way to 33 points, as the Heat shot 50.7 percent from the floor to hand the
Denver Nuggets their second straight loss. This was Miami’s fifth win in six games.
Chris Bosh registered his fifth straight double-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, while Dwyane Wade added 32 points of his own.
Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Tonight was not our best execution, but we had enough. We've certainly made progress.”
Miami started the game off strong and led 25 – 9 following a dunk by LeBron James at the 3:47 mark in the first quarter. James had 13 points and shot 6-for-8 in the opening quarter to give Miami a 29 – 21 at the end of it.
Heat guard Mario Chalmers went out in the second period with a sprained ankle, and it had the Heat team worried.
Fortunately, Mike Bibby had another solid game off the bench for the Heat, who had been hoping for the veteran guard to settle in quickly. He contributed 14 points; hitting four three-pointers. Besides the Big three of Wade, Bosh and LeBron, Bibby was the
only player with a sizable contribution. These four players solely handled the majority of the scoring responsibility for the Heat, with the rest of the team only managing to contribute 6 points to the overall total.
“I think Mike fits right in," Wade said. "He's a guy who's great when he gets the ball ... a very good shooter and most importantly, he's a veteran guy who's very smart. He's going to be big for us in the playoffs.”
“You start to help, and then Mike Bibby comes in and starts knocking down 3s. It's real hard to guard that," Denver guard Ty Lawson said. "They are a good team, good players, and it's tough to stop that when they are hitting on all cylinders like that.”
The Nuggets got to within one point of Miami on a 9-0 run in the second quarter, only to be countered by a 10 – 0 run that began with a jumper by James. Miami re-extended its lead 45 – 34 with 4:36 left in the quarter. Both teams traded baskets afterwards
as Miami took a nine point lead heading into the halftime break.
The third quarter was keenly contested again, with the Heat stretching its lead again in the third to 16 points only for the deficit to be reduced by a 10 - 2 rally from the Nuggets. Miami was led 79 – 71 at the end of the third quarter.
The Nuggets kept coming back at the Heat and got to within four points on a jump-shot by Danilo Gallinari to make it 84 – 80. But Denver just couldn’t get any closer than that, as they went scoreless for nearly four minutes allowing the Heat to spark a 10
– 0 run and put the game away for good.
James was hot from the floor again, and is now a combined 31 –for – 46 from the floor in the last two games.
J.R. Smith top-scored for the Nuggets with 27 points on 11 -19 shooting and Danilo Gallinari added 23 points off the bench, while Ty Lawson had 17 points, six assists and seven rebounds in the contest.
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