A horrific airballed 3 point shot late by Danilo Gallinari (5-12, 13 points, 2 rebounds) and another terrible shooting night overall killed the Nuggets against a determined Heat team. Despite a career night from Kenneth Faried, who collected 16 points and 20 rebounds (a career high), the Nuggets fell to their same old nemesis: 3 point shooting. The Nuggets shot just 6-20 (30%) from 3, while the Heat shot 13-27 (48%). Shane Battier and Mike Miller drained 3 after three, combining for 10 of 15 overall.
Ty Lawson looked like a hungover ghost of himself. He had no energy the entire night, didn’t attack the lane once, and was absolutely invisible. Despite playing 36 minutes, he scored zero points on 0-7 shooting, but did collect 8 assists. Unsettling questions continue to rumble around whether Ty really wants a leadership role on this team.
Even though Denver was able to use a huge run late over the third and fourth quarters to bring the game within one, fueled by Kenneth Faried’s relentless hustle, the Nuggets were simply unable to recover from being down by as many as 19 points to LeBron James’s Heat. Combined, Corey Brewer, Ty Lawson, and Andre Iguodala shot 5 for 25 from the field – or just 20%.
Up next are the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday (6:30 PM MST). They’ll certainly be hungry after an embarrassing loss to the New York Knicks tonight. The Nuggets have their work cut out for them.
