Coup’s Takeaways: Nuggets Control Wire-To-Wire As HEAT Drop Third Straight
- wgclients01
- Jan 20
- 4 min read
1. The Denver Nuggets might not have the best record in the league right now – they’re still No. 4 in the West – but they might still be the toughest matchup in the league for Miami.
Jimmy Butler returned to the starting lineup tonight, as did Duncan Robinson, but the opening minutes belonged to Denver, the visitors going up in the 9-12 range and the lead hovering around there for much of the first half. Miami managed the opening Nikola Jokic shift well, getting contributions up and down the roster as the HEAT worked their way into the paint off cutting and ball movement.
The real problem was Jamal Murray, hitting all the tough shots when Denver wasn’t generating easy ones. Denver was generating plenty of easy ones, too, just about all their threes open off the catch, and while the HEAT were missing their fair share of looks (4-of-18 from three in the first half), it never quite felt like Denver was being forced to shift into a higher gear on the offensive end as they took a 12-point lead into the break, Murray with 20.
The Nuggets train just kept on moving as the lead reached 16 early in the third, working through Jokic while Murray hit another couple of tough ones. Miami stayed in it, Butler timing his cuts well and Bam Adebayo tipping a couple in off the glass. They may not have been in control, but they were in the game with plenty coming right at the cup, a couple more makes from three from being right there.
And yet Denver was undeterred as ever, as soon as Miami clawed back within nine the ball went right back in the hands of Jokic and soon the lead was 16 again, a 7-0 capped off by a Russell Westbrook three in transition. More good Nikola Jovic minutes mitigated the damage, the wait for a sustained run from the home team still on. Nuggets still by 12 going into the fourth, a Jokic three capping off the period as he had already secured a triple double.
No Jokic to open the fourth and Miami lost more ground, never the best sign against Denver, as the lead ballooned to 18. Jokic never had to return, Denver taking it, 133-113, in control and hands on the wheel most of the way.
2. You aren’t going to beat the Nuggets very often when they make nearly half their threes and you spend most of the night below 30 percent, but you really aren’t going to beat the Nuggets very often when DeAndre Jordan is a +15.
The league, much less the HEAT, is no closer to solving the riddle that is Nikola Jokic (24 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists on 12 shots) this year than they have been in any year – and it’s becoming increasingly likely that the answer never does present itself. We say this every season but along with Luka Doncic there is no player in the league who is more agnostic to Miami’s defense than Jokic, so indifferent to the pieces of Miami’s scheme that makes them unique as he methodically keeps his team moving forward and putting points on the board. Notably tonight the HEAT didn’t even have Adebayo attempt to front Jokic very often, as has typically been Adebayo’s best weapon against the multi-time MVP, but even when they did the Nuggets immediately found their angles and went right over the top. As is the case for most teams, you have to capitalize on the minutes Jokic doesn’t play and Miami did not check that box.
Still, Denver was only a plus-six in the 31 minutes that Jokic did play. That’s enough to give yourself a chance, no doubt, but with Aaron Gordon coming off the bench to stabilize Denver’s secondary group Miami was never able to make up much ground as Murray’s shotmaking (30 points on 24 shots) pushed Denver forward. Denver finished with an Offensive Rating of 135.7, Miami’s defense never fully felt in the way it’s always meant to be felt.
3. Even with 9-of-33 shooting from three Miami’s offense was good enough to win, an offensive rating of 115.3 underselling their half-court execution on their way to 62 in the paint including 24-of-32 at the rim.
Some of that was Butler’s timely cuts that caught Denver off guard while another HEAT attacker drove. Some of it was Adebayo on the offensive glass, or Herro getting downhill as Denver’s defense pushed him off the line – something Herro has been more than willing to do when a team pressures the three (Herro had 22 on 17 shots, but was just 2-of-7 from three, the attempts notable). Jovic again offered plus minutes, too, on the offensive end, with 16 on 12 shots and tough finishes through contact in the middle.
It all just wasn’t enough, and there isn’t much more to say than that. Miami couldn’t stop the Nuggets whether Jokic was in the game or not, and however much that had to do with some tough shotmaking, even those tough shots felt more like a choice made rather than one forced upon them under duress. Such was the night, and now Miami moves on to face San Antonio on Sunday.
