Denver Nuggets vs. Miami Heat Preview

The Matchup: Miami (22-17; Road 7-9) at Denver (15-24; Home 7-11)

Location: Pepsi Center – Denver, CO

Time: Friday, January 15th at 7:00 pm MT

How To Watch: NBA TV, Altitude

Betting Line (Bovada): MIA -3

Projected Starting Lineups:

Denver: PG Jameer Nelson, SG Gary Harris, SF Danilo Gallinari, PF Kenneth Faried, C Joffrey Lauvergne

Miami: PG Goran Dragic, SG Dwayne Wade*, SF Luol Deng, PF Chris Bosh, C Hassan Whiteside

The tale of two teams.

Denver comes in sky high riding a two-game winning streak, both from home where this game takes the place. The first of those wins was against the Charlotte Hornets. The second? That was a thrilling game where the Nuggets finally won a close one against a good team in the Golden State Warriors.

Instead, the Heat come a bit defeated on a three-game losing streak where all three games took place on the road. While the Heat have been great at home, going 15-8, they have struggled on the road going 7-9 so far this season including the current losing streak.

What will be the keys for Denver to continue both streaks and get another victory?

Health

You may notice an asterisk beside Dwayne Wade’s name in the Heat’s projected lineup.

As of now Wade is a game-time decision. The shooting guard has been on a tear lately averaging 30.9 minutes, 17.7 points, 5.1 assists, and 4.9 rebounds a game the last ten games. If Wade is not able to go that would lead many other Heat players having to step up. Likely the Nuggets will see more touches to defend from Chris Bosh if Wade is unable to go. Therefore, Kenneth Faried and Nuggets’ big men will have to limit Bosh’s effectiveness.

The Nuggets’ big men will also have to step up in another regard. For the Nuggets’ health, Jusuf Nurkić will not be able to go as he has a sprained ankle and is dealing with a knee injury. Nurkić had been key with his minutes off the bench and helping set the tone in the paint in complement to Danilo Gallinari’s drives. The Nuggets will need Nikola Jokic, Darrell Arthur, and Joffrey Lauvergne, and again Faried, to all to step up in his place for points and setting the tone offensively.

Score Prediction

The Heat and Nuggets both have varied from high scoring to low scoring games in the past week, but with the injuries expect a game somewhere in the middle with the Nuggets picking up the victory.

Denver 96 Miami 92