Heat fall to Nuggets 124-119
MIAMI - Jamal Murray scored seven of his 14 points over the final two minutes, Nikola Jokic had his eighth triple-double of the season and the Denver Nuggets rallied to beat the Miami Heat 124-119 on Friday night.
Jokic finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists. The two-time reigning NBA MVP was 8 of 15 from the floor, marking his team-record 26th straight game shooting 50% or better. He has 84th career triple-doubles.
With Denver down 117-115, Murray took over as the point guard and hit a 3-pointer, two free throws and a floating jumper to help the Nuggets remain tied with New Orleans for the top spot in the Western Conference.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led the Nuggets with 20 points on 7-of-7 shooting from the floor. The Nuggets had eight players score in double figures to offset 20 turnovers.
Tyler Herro had 26 points and 10 rebounds for Miami. Bam Adebayo added 22 for the Heat, who began a five-game trip through the West.
Duncan Robinson connected on three long-range shots to become the franchise's leader in 3-pointers with 807, one more than Tim Hardaway.
Miami rebounded from a horrific shooting start — 4 of 22 — to keep things close until making a move to start the third quarter. The Heat took the lead early in the third quarter on Herro's 3-pointer, but couldn't hold on.
TIP-INS
Heat: Herro hit all four of his free throws to run his streak to 24. It's the fourth-longest streak of his career. ... Coach Erik Spoelstra drew a technical foul in the third quarter for arguing. ... Forward Caleb Martin was scratched because of a quad injury.
Nuggets: Bones Hyland had five 3-pointers and 16 points.
POP QUIZ
Nuggets coach Michael Malone was asked if this was an important test, given Miami's physical brand of basketball.
"Every night is a test. I mean that sincerely," Malone said. "There are 29 other teams that present problems. One might be a great running team, one might be a great low-post team. Iso (isolation) team, catch-and-shoot, whatever. ... We know that they (the Heat) are capable of doing really big things in that Eastern Conference."
UP NEXT
Heat: At Utah on Saturday night.
