DENVER, Jan. 8 (Ticker) -- Juwan Howard helped the Denver Nuggets finally prevail over the Miami Heat.

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Howard scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Rodney White added 15 points off the bench as the Nuggets snapped a 13-game skid against the Heat with an 86-76 victory.

The Nuggets conquered the Heat for the first time since a 101-99 road triumph on December 15, 1995 and snapped their six-game home skid against Miami, dating to a 100-98 win on March 3, 1995.

"We shot 50 percent (34-of-67) from the field and that will always help us," White said of his team, which reached the mark for just the third time this season. "It is a team effort. We need to keep fighting and things will come together."

In a contest between the NBA's worst offensive teams, the Heat were playing without leading scorer Eddie Jones for a third straight game due to a sprained ankle. Miami shot just 41 percent (30-of-73), missing all seven shots from 3-point range.

Denver managed to put together a 10-0 run during a six-minute span of the fourth quarter to effectively secure the win.

Ryan Bowen tallied five of his season-high 12 points during the burst and Howard converted a three-point play, capping the run and opening a 75-63 cushion for the Nuggets with 4:37 left.

"It got to the point where both teams were just pushing and shoving," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "The first team that could get up six or eight points ran away with the game. When we got down nine or 10 points, we lost a little bit of heart."

Howard recorded his fourth double-double in five games and 10th this season as Denver won at the Pepsi Center for the first time in seven games overall.

Bowen took advantage of his opportunity. Entering the contest averaging 17.3 minutes per game, the 6-9 Bowen played 35 minutes after starting forward Donnell Harvey left just 2:16 into the game with a sprained ankle.

"I knew I was going to have to play a few minutes," Bowen said. "I just got to stay ready to play. You never know when someone is going to get hurt."

Rookie Caron Butler scored 20 points and had a season-high seven steals for the Heat, who dropped their fourth straight game.

"We had lots of open shots, they just were not falling," said Heat guard Anthony Carter, who collected 12 points and 11 assists. "We have to do a better job on the defensive end. We had to get stops and push the ball, but it was not working."

Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik, who was an assistant under coach Pat Riley in Miami from 1995-2001, got the best of his mentor for the first time.

"He really wanted this win," Bowen said of Bzdelik. "He did not approach it any differently, but you could tell he really wanted this one."

A pair of rookies also contributed for Denver. Nene Hilario scored 12 points, his fifth straight double-digit performance, and Junior Harrington registered a career-high nine assists.

But once again, defense keyed the Nuggets' victory. Denver improved to 5-3 this season when holding opponents to fewer than 80 points.

"We are 2-2 in the New Year," Bzdelik said. "We had 20 turnovers tonight and that has to improve. We played really well together and that was special to me."