The Denver Nuggets are hosting the Miami Heat tonight at the Pepsi Center tonight in a game where they will try to rebound shake off a three-game losing streak.
The Nuggets will try to rebound at home from a road trip that did not go as planned. Fortunately, they play extremely well at home, where they’ve won 18 of the last 19 games.
Denver could benefit not only from home court advantage but playing a fatigued Miami team because the Heat, in the midst of a six-game road trip, is playing back-to-back games after losing to the Golden State Warriors last night 120-18.
The Heat, who have lost two straight and five of their last six, had to travel from California to Colorado to play back-to-back games, but on top of that, is facing the top two teams in the Western Conference.
The Nuggets need to keep an eye on the Heat’s shooters, especially Josh Richardson, who last night scored 37 against the Warriors and 21 against the Kings in the game before that.
Dion Waiters is another Heat guy to keep the eye on as he shot 6-of-10 from the field in the first game against Denver in Miami. Overall the Nuggets must improve their perimeter defense and account for those two guys as they’ve had some issues lately that have contributed to their three-game losing streak.
The Heat are a good rebounding team that on the post has plenty of weapons. The Nuggets will face Hassan Whiteside, Bam Adebayo, and Kelly Olynyk, some very active bug guys that like to get on the glass to get second-chance points.
This is a game that the Nuggets can’t overlook even though they are not facing one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. This is the first of two games at home before the All-Star break so the Nuggets must play with energy if they want to win and enter the mid-season break on a positive note.