#miami-heat

#miami-heat

Behind another dominant performance from three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, the Denver Nuggets slammed the door on the Miami Heat Wednesday evening with a 122-112 win inside Ball Arena in Denver, Colo. Jokic tallied his fifth triple-double of the season, dropping an absurd 33-point, 15-rebound, 16-assist statline across 37 minutes, shooting 12-of-18 from the floor and 2-of-5 from 3-point range. Denver completely undressed Miami on the glass,

The most notable development from the Miami Heat's 120-119 win over the LA Clippers, which moved the Heat to 4-3 on the season, is that Erik Spoelstra has gone small once again. After playing around with Nikola Jovic and Kel'el Ware to pair up with Bam Adebayo, Spoelstra went back to his preferred method of three guards on the court with Andrew Wiggins and Adebayo as the two "big" men.

Miami Heat: Norman Powell (groin) OUT Tyler Herro (foot) OUT Kasparas Jakucionis (groin) OUT Terry Rozier (not with team) OUT Vladislav Goldin (g-league) OUT LA Lakers: Deandre Ayton (back) OUT LeBron James (sciatica) OUT Gabe Vincent (ankle) OUT Thiero Adou (knee) OUT Maxi Kleber (abdominal muscle) OUT Miami Heat: Davion Mitchell, G Pelle Larsson, G Andrew Wiggins, F Bam Adebayo, F/C Kel'el Ware, C LA Lakers: Luka Doncic, G Austin Reaves, G Marcus Smart, F Rui Hachimura, F Deandre Ayton, C

It's a competitive group. Where you think you may have advantages if you're the other team, they make up for it with their activity and their toughness. They have a lot of belief and spirit about them that's great. And then offensively - wow. They really play a collective game. The ball moves, they cut, they move great without the ball. They find open players. It's really a fun group to watch.

You know that new offensive approach everyone keeps raving about? The one that feels like it has already changed what's possible for the Heat this season? Well, as innovative as it appears for them, it's actually modeled off of the Memphis Grizzlies' approach from last season. In fact, Spoelstra and his staff actually consulted with former Grizzlies assistant Noah LaRoche before installing the motion-based offense, per ESPN's Brian Windhorst.