Ball Arena, home of the Denver Nuggets, is a daunting place for any NBA team to play. Beyond the fact that it houses the best player on the planet—three-time MVP Nikola Jokic—it also comes with the unique challenge of playing at elevation, which can make it harder to breathe and recover due to its lower air pressure and decreased oxygen.
The Miami Heat know all about these confines, which they'll visit Wednesday night, and just how unfriendly they can be. They haven't won a regular season game in this building since Nov. 2016. And they just might be feeling those elevation effects now more than ever, since a key principle of their new-look offense is keeping the pedal floored.
"I don't remember the last time we've won there in a regular-season game. It's been a long time," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters. "Let's stack up as much as we can. We'll play it on Mt. Everest if we have to."
“I don’t remember the last time we’ve won there in a regular-season game. It’s been a long time,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Let’s stack up as much as we can. We’ll play it on Mt. Everest if we have to.”
Miami won't make-or-break its season Wednesday night, but locking horns with an elite in such a tricky environment will be an excellent gauge of just how far this group has come.
If the Heat can sprint their way to victory in Denver, the Eastern Conference should look out.
After opening their four-game road trip with consecutive losses, the Heat recovered just in time to salvage a one-point win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday. That had to be a nice morale boost, and you know Norman Powell had a great time sticking it to his former employer.
Winning in Denver would be a different kind of boost, though. While the Clippers can be really good, the Nuggets already look great. Jokic is flexing his MVP might, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon have sprinted out of the starting blocks, and Denver is already seeing strong returns on its offseason investments in its second unit.
The Nuggets look as ferocious as any team not named the Oklahoma City Thunder. Especially since Denver now has a high-end defense (fourth in efficiency, per NBA.com) to complement its net-shredding offense (second).
Normally, visitors would be advised to avoid getting in a track meet with this team, but Miami should come in ready to run. There will be no better early-season test for this full-throttle attack than going toe-to-toe with a team that has routinely overwhelmed opponents with offense. Not to mention, it would be a nice feather in the Heat's cap to dismantle this suddenly stingy defense.
Spo might know his roster better than anyone, but he still stands to learn plenty about his team (which could have a new weapon come Wednesday night) with how it fares against a true juggernaut. If the Heat find a way to get this game—without Tyler Herro, remember—that would ring out like a legitimate warning shot for everyone else vying for the Eastern Conference crown.