Miami Heat And Denver Nuggets, Last Year's NBA Finalists, Fall By 30-Plus Points
Thursday night basketball saw some funky scores.
The Miami Heat dropped their fifth-straight game as they lost 143-110 to the Boston Celtics. The Denver Nuggets were embarrassed 122-84 by the New York Knicks as well. Both teams were in the NBA Finals last year.
Miami’s defense could not stop Boston from scoring. Each member of the Celtics’ starting lineup had at least three triples and seven players had double-digit point totals. The Heat did their best to stay in the game, but they could not match Boston’s near 64-percent shooting on the night.
Nikola Jokic had a 31-point outing on the same night that he was selected as an All-Star starter. Unfortunately for him, the rest of the Nuggets players combined for just 53 points. Denver shot just five for 26 from beyond the arc and at a 40.5 percent clip from the field.
The 34-point loss for Miami and the 38-point loss for Denver were both the worst losses in terms of point differential for their team this season.
The Nuggets are still just 1.5 games behind the top spot in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, the Heat have now fallen into a play-in spot. One team can afford the rare blowout. The other can’t.
And then there was Denver’s opponent on Thursday. New York won its fifth straight contest while handling one of the best teams in the league. Who do the Knicks face next? That would be Miami.
The Heat look to avoid dropping their sixth-straight contest in the Saturday matchup at Madison Square Garden.
Casey Fahrer is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He can be reached at caseyfahrer716@gmail.com.
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