The Nuggets got their groove backagain. Their swagger, also.
Denver used a 16-0 run in the next quarter and long-lived mastery from Nikola Jokic, Malik Beasley and Monte Morris into whup that the Miami Heat in their very own game — the 3-ball — at a 103-87 success Monday night in the Pepsi Center, snapping a three-game losing streak and holding on to the No. 2 slot at the Western Conference with a single tilt staying ahead of the all-star fracture.
“Tonight,” stressed center Mason Plumlee, who finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and 3 blocks, “is who we are. ”
Miami arrived tied for ninth in the league at treys per contest (11.6), although the Nuggets (38-18) rated 17th at 3-pointers allowed (11.2) following a winless three-game road trip that saw them give up an average of 15 3s into Detroit, Brooklyn and Philadelphia.
A return to the Mile High City — it was the Nuggets’ first appearance at the Pepsi Center since Feb. 1 — flipped that script, since the hosts frees their 24th win in 28 home competitions.
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The Heat (25-30) was confined to only nine makes from outside the arc 33 attempts, a return the Nuggets’ defensive mojo of older and a stat that set the tone to the first Nuggets sweep of Miami since the 2008-09 season.
The third quarter proved to be the keeper, on the two ends of the ground. Mason Plumlee supplied the spark early by swatting at Hassan Whiteside’s taken into the Nuggets seat with 8:27 to go in the time. A minute later, Plumlee’s slam off the alley-oop put the Nuggets up six and kept the streak.
“Mason’s energy,” trainer Mike Malone noted, “is infectious. ”
The Nuggets connected on 4-of-9 from outside the arc in the next phase, although the Heat was 1-for-5. Beasley netted 18 of his team-high 23 points in the second half, 14 in the fourth quarter.
Needless to say, when you would like your chunk YMCA rec design, the first half has been your speed. Loose balls. Loopy passes. Loopier shots. Missed dunks. Bodies all over the ground.
Coming off a 0-3 road swing, Malone stressed defense — or a return to a semblance of it the preceding two days. So when the Nuggets flipped it over twice and saw the Heat race into a 4-0 border, the trainer wasn&rsquo pleased, calling timeout to examine his team the riot act.
“That’s what trainers do,” shrugged Jokic, who dropped 23 points and 12 boards around the Heat, draining each of his 3-point attempts. “We weren’t prepared to play. ”
They’ve got the message, clear and loud. The Nuggets, who host the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night to finish off the pre-All Star Game portion of the slate, closed out the first period on a 13-6 run thanks to 13 points off the bench from Morris, who finished with 17, at that quarter alone.
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The hosts couldn’t catch a break — or a bucket — for much of the next quarter. This ’s once Jokic shifted into a different gear, falling eight of his 23 points at the previous 2:01 of the first halfan run restricted by a 26-foot bank shot with 3.2 seconds left in the clock that gave the Nuggets a 54-49 cushion at the break.
When the Nuggets seen South Florida on Jan. 8, then the Heat linked on just 8-of-31 attempts from beyond the arc and shot 45.8 percent from the floor as Denver toughed out a 103-99 triumph. Monday? New stadium. Same story.
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