National Basketball Association
Denver 103, Miami 99
When: 7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, January 8, 2019
Where: American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
Officials: #74 Curtis Blair, #78 Evan Scott, #60 James Williams
Attendance: 19600

Nikola Jokic's fourth triple-double of the season -- 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists -- carried the Western Conference-leading Denver Nuggets to a 103-99 win over the host Miami Heat on Tuesday night.

Jokic hit the go-ahead shot from the lane with 2.4 seconds left over the arms of backup center Bam Adebayo, who played great defense on the sequence. However, Jokic awkwardly floated his shot over Adebayo and hit nothing but net.

Miami still had a chance to tie or go ahead, but Kelly Olynyk's inbounds pass was wild, leading to a turnover -- just the Heat's sixth in the game.

Jamal Murray, who scored 18 points for Denver, then made two free throws with 0.9 seconds left to seal the victory.

Torrey Craig also had a big game for Denver. The unheralded 6-foot-7 forward from South Carolina Upstate had 11 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, also his career high.

Miami reserve guard Dion Waiters had a team-high 15 points, and Heat center Hassan Whiteside had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Adebayo scored 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter, but he couldn't stop Jokic on the game's key play.

Miami shot 25.8 percent on 3-point attempts (8 of 31). Worse yet, the Heat, who rank 29th in the league in foul shooting, made just 60 percent from the line (15 of 25).

Denver's defense led the Nuggets to a 24-18 first-quarter lead, holding Miami to 26.1 percent shooting, including just 1 of 7 on 3-point tries. Trailing by as many as nine points in the second quarter, Miami came charging back to take a 52-49 halftime lead.

Miami led by as many as six points in the third quarter. However, Denver rallied to tie the score 76-76 as Trey Lyles hit a pull-up jumper in traffic at the free-throw line with 0.9 seconds left in the period.

There were 12 lead changes in the third quarter, and the game continued on that path in the fourth before Jokic made his crucial shot.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Denver   Miami
Nikola Jokic 29 Scoring Dion Waiters 15
Nikola Jokic 10 Assists Dwyane Wade 6
Torrey Craig 16 Rebounds Hassan Whiteside 10
Nikola Jokic 6 Free Throws Made Kelly Olynyk 4
Nikola Jokic 1 Steals Tyler Johnson 2
Paul Millsap 1 Blocks Hassan Whiteside 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Denver 103 47.1 9-27 12-17 32 50 2 2 16
Miami 99 45.8 8-31 15-25 24 38 8 9 6
Upcoming Games
  • Miami will play their next game at home against Boston. The Heat have a W/L % of .450 after a win and .526 after a loss.
  • Denver will play their next game at home against L.A. Clippers. The Nuggets have a W/L % of .778 after a win and .500 after a loss.