 missed his fourth consecutive game, and Hassan Whiteside (left hip pain) sat out his fifth straight contest. Denver was without leading scorer Gary Harris, sidelined again by a strained right knee that could keep him out several more days.Denver led 16-5 after 3 1/2 minutes, and that was the only double-digit lead by either side for about the next three hours. It was airtight until the very final moments, almost to an absurd degree.After one quarter, Denver led by one.Halftime, Miami led by one.After three, Miami still by one.After regulation, tied.After one overtime, still tied.Back and forth they went all night, two teams who played a one-point game at Denver back in November - that one not being decided until Dion Waiters' missed jumper as time expired sealed the Nuggets' win - and now are fighting with playoffs in mind. The Heat are essentially playing for a seed; the Nuggets are playing for a berth.Denver led by six midway through the fourth before Miami used a 10-2 run to reclaim the lead. Nikola Jokic tied it for Denver with 10 seconds left in regulation, Josh Richardson missed for Miami at the end and to overtime they went tied at 118. The Heat thought they merited a trip to the line when Johnson missed at the end of the first overtime, but no whistle came.So in the second overtime, they seized control and outscored the Nuggets 18-10 in the final five minutes. Wayne Ellington rattled in a 3-pointer to start the second extra session, and the Heat didn't trail again.TIP-INSNuggets: Including the franchise's ABA days, all 28 previous Nuggets teams to finish .500 or better made the playoffs. ... Denver fell to 19-5 in games where it scores at least 115 points. The Nuggets are now 17-30 when allowing more than 105.Heat: It was the highest-scoring first four quarters of an overtime game in Heat history. The previous before-OT high was 115 at Golden State on Dec. 1, 2008. ... A pregame moment of silence was held for the six victims of last week's bridge collapse near Florida International University. ... The previous scoring record was 141 points, done twice.NEVER FORGETThe Heat continue paying tributes to the 17 victims of the shooting last month at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and several players spent their day off Sunday at the Parkland Rec League Basketball Championship, honoring the lives of victims Joaquin Oliver, Luke Hoyer and Alex Schacter by announcing scholarships in their names - as well as a $500,000 donation.ROAD TRIPThis seven-game trip for the Nuggets is their longest since a seven-gamer in the 2011-12 season. As if a late-season two-week trip wasn't tough enough, Denver's remaining schedule is brutal; after visiting Chicago on Wednesday, the Nuggets will have 10 games left - all against teams currently in the playoff mix.TOURNEY TIMEThere's serious NCAA talk in the Heat locker room, with many players seeing their schools in the Sweet 16. The Heat-backed teams - Kentucky (Bam Adebayo), Duke (Justise Winslow), Nevada (Luke Babbitt), Kansas State (Rodney McGruder), Gonzaga (Kelly Olynyk), Syracuse (Dion Waiters) and Michigan (Derrick Walton Jr.).UP NEXTNuggets: Visit Chicago on Wednesday.Heat: Host New York on Wednesday.---More basketball: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball)
Mar 18, 2018 MIAMI -- The Denver Nuggets are coming off their ugliest loss of the season.The Miami Heat are just back from a 1-2 West Coast road trip.On Monday night, these teams will match up as the Heat plays host to the Nuggets at AmericanAirlines Arena.The Heat (37-33) currently have the eighth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, just a half-game behind the seventh-place Milwaukee Bucks."We're getting better," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told the media after the rough road trip that included an overtime loss to the lowly Sacramento Kings. "We're getting stronger from this. I truly believe we will find the benefits of going through these types of games." Meanwhile, the Nuggets (38-32) are sitting just outside the Western Conference playoff picture after Saturday night's brutal 101-94 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, who entered that game with the worst record in the NBA.Memphis snapped a 19-game losing streak with the win over Denver."It's a bad loss," Nuggets coach Michael Malone told the media. "It's a tough way to start this road trip."Our first group did a terrible job of starting the game with any real sense of urgency. We built ourselves a 21-point hole on the road." Even so, the Nuggets trailed Memphis by just two points with 2:47 left in Saturday's game. But Denver never scored another point.Malone said it was an "unacceptable" overall effort for the Nuggets in what was their start of a seven-game trip.For the Heat on Monday, a lot will depend on whether center Hassan Whiteside (hip injury) and shooting guard Dwyane Wade (hamstring) are able to play.Whiteside, who has missed four straight games, leads the Heat in rebounds (11.8) and blocks (1.7) while averaging 14.3 points. He gives Miami an inside presence.Wade, 36, is near the end of a brilliant career and is averaging 13.6 points. But since he joined the Heat on Feb. 9, he has become a big part of their second unit. He had averaged 15.5 shots per game in the two contests prior to getting hurt, and he has since missed the past three games.On the positive side for Miami is that the Heat are 20-13 at home and have won four straight games at AmericanAirlines Arena.Overall, however, the Heat have not played well for the past several weeks. The Heat were just 3-7 in a disappointing February and are 5-4 so far in March.Denver won the only previous meeting with the teams, prevailing at home 95-94 on Nov. 3 when Paul Millsap was fouled and made three free throws for the game's final points.But the Nuggets are dealing with a significant injury. Gary Harris, Denver's leading scorer, missed the Memphis game due to a knee injury. He is averaging 17.7 points and is shooting well at every level -- 82.7 percent on free throws, 55.3 percent on 2-pointers and 39.9 percent on 3-pointers.Harris is not expected to play against Miami."He's not even walking normally yet," Malone said. "I think Gary will be out three or four games."
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