The Miami HEAT defeated the Denver Nuggets 106-98 Wednesday night at Pepsi Center. Hassan Whiteside led the way for the HEAT with 25 points and 16 rebounds.
1. Whiteside Sharp Throughout
From the very beginning, Whiteside was ultra aggressive against the Nuggets. In fact, he tallied a double-double in the first half with 13 points and 13 boards. Regardless of whom Denver threw his way, whether it was Jusuf Nurkić, Nikola Jokić or Kenneth Faried, Whiteside fared well.
One of the big fella’s best plays came very early into the contest. With 9:00 left in the first quarter, Whiteside hit Nurkić with the nifty spin move near the high-post, drove across the lane, absorbed contact and finished the reverse layup.
In addition to his 25 points and 16 rebounds (four offensive), Whiteside also had four blocks.
2. Ellington Catches Fire
While Wayne Ellington did some damage in the first half, his production in the fourth quarter turned the tide in Miami’s favor. In the period, the former UNC Tar Heel scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from deep, and attacked both in the half court and in transition. Throughout the evening, Ellington did a really good job of running off screens to get a clean look, although he doesn’t need much space to make the defense pay.
The 29-year-old also made his presence felt on the defensive end and led all players with four steals. In addition to those steals, Ellington finished with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting.
3. Opportunistic Defense
The HEAT did a great job of capitalizing off Denver’s turnovers for a majority of the night. In all, Miami totaled 14 steals and scored 28 points off the Nuggets’ 19 turnovers. What’s more, the HEAT held Denver to just 31.8 percent shooting in the fourth.
Miami really started to amp up its defense in the second quarter, as it totaled four steals in the period and got some easy buckets in transition. Ellington’s heads-up play at the end of the first quarter was a precursor for what was to come.
With 4.1 to play in the first, Ellington poked the ball away from Jokić, took a few dribbles and then hit it ahead for Tyler Johnson, who slammed it home just before the first-quarter buzzer.
Speaking of Johnson, the combo-guard scored 11 of his 18 points after halftime and stepped up in critical moments. He also dished out seven assists on Wednesday night.
Game Note:
-Josh Richardson (ankle) sat out. Dion Waiters (pectineus tear) and Justise Winslow (sore left wrist) did not travel with the team.
Looking Ahead:
-The HEAT will get right back at it against the Jazz Thursday night at 9:00 PM. After a day of rest, the team will then face the Trail Blazers on Saturday at 10:00 PM. Miami returns home for a matchup with the Knicks on December 6 at 7:30 PM. Tickets for that game can be found here.