Miami Heat vs Denver Nuggets Match Player Stats On Nov 03, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Nov 3, 2017

DENVER -- Paul Millsap had a season-high 27 points and nine rebounds and hit three free throws with 11.8 seconds left to help the Denver Nuggets beat the Miami Heat 95-94 on Friday night.

Nikola Jokic had 19 points and 14 rebounds as Denver withstood a hot start and finish by Miami to win for the fourth time in five games.

Goran Dragic led Miami with 23 points to tie a season high and James Johnson and Dion Waiters had 15 points each for the Heat (3-5). Hassan Whiteside had 13 points in 24 minutes in his second game back after missing five games with a left knee bone bruise.

The Nuggets (5-4) seemed to have control in the fourth before Miami, which hit 15 of 19 shots in the first quarter, got hot again.

After Jokic's 3-pointer and Emmanuel Mudiay's dunk gave the Nuggets an 84-76 lead, Miami went on a 15-5 run. The Heat hit three 3-pointers and got an alley-oop from Dragic to Whiteside to take a 91-89 lead with 2:11 left.

Millsap split a pair of free throws and after a Miami miss, Gary Harris hit an 11-footer in the lane to give Denver a 92-91 lead with 47.3 seconds left.

Waiters hit a layup to put Miami back on top with 30.9 seconds remaining and Millsap missed two free throws with 26 seconds left. The Nuggets fouled Dragic, who made one of two free throws, and Millsap was fouled on a 3-point attempt and drained all three foul shots to put Denver ahead 95-94.

Waiter's long jumper rimmed out at the buzzer.

Miami shot 78.9 percent in the first quarter but cooled off a little in the second quarter but still led 58-51 at halftime.

Miami went cold in the third when the Nuggets took their first lead on Jokic's 8-foot baseline jumper with 5:54 left.

Millsap scored 10 points in the period to help stretch the lead to 76-71. Miami, which shot 64.9 percent in the first half, was 3 of 17 from the field in the third quarter and committed six turnovers.

NOTES: The Nuggets were 14 of 25 from the line. ... The Heat didn't attempt a free throw until there was 10:58 left in the third quarter. ... Denver allowed 77 points over two quarters -- Toronto's 40 in the fourth quarter Wednesday and Miami's 37 in the first. ... Friday's game was the start of a six-game road trip for the Heat. They played six of their first seven at home before heading to Denver. ... The Nuggets play the Warriors at home on Saturday night. The last time Denver played home games on consecutive nights was during the 2015-16 season.