Miami Heat: The Defensive Effort Was Inexcusable In Loss To Nuggets
By Isiah Curry
On a late night matchup in Denver, the Miami Heat were handed their third loss of the season and moving forward from the extremities of Monday’s aftermath, you saw a Heat team that was outplayed and physically overwhelmed in a, 113-96, blowout.
Through their first ten games, the Heat have outperformed most early-season expectations and have done so with their transition play, offensive collectivity, and a resounding defense.
However, those qualities were absent during Monday’s loss, as the Nuggets ran complete circles around the NBA’s second best defense in an ugly and forgettable performance for Miami.
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HEAT SEASON-LOWS (THROUGH FIRST TEN GAMES)
- Rebounding (37-49)
- Assists (28)
- Points In The Paint (50)
- Second-Worst Defensive Rating (120.2)
In their last two games, the Heat have given up an average of 114 points on 48 percent shooting, which came against two very formidable Western Conference opponents. An uncharacteristically low level of effort was shown and that’s for a Miami defense that’s consistently held their opponents to under 100 points per game.
So, what happened? Let’s take a dive in what exactly went wrong.