DENVER – Any debate about the most important player on the Miami Heat roster wound up being decided early in the eighth game of the season.
With Bam Adebayo sidelined with a foot injury in the first quarter, the Heat weren’t able to measure up Wednesday night in what turned into a 122-112 loss to the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena.
“Obviously it was too much to play through,” Adebayo said, “and then obviously you don’t want to do anything more to cause any more lingering effects.”
He said he expects an MRI on Friday in Miami.
“I felt a pain in my foot so I took it upon myself to check myself out and go see what happened,” he said. “We’ll figure it out. We’ll get more tests tomorrow and see how it goes.”
Already lacking size, the Heat played the majority of the game with the lithe 7-foot presence of Kel’el Ware in the middle and little else to fend off a pummeling on the boards in a loss that evened the record at 4-4.
“Hope it’s nothing bad and he’ll be able to be back,” Ware said of Adebayo.
Against the triple-double bulk of Nikola Jokic, the Heat lost to the Nuggets for the 11th consecutive time.
Jokic closed with 33 points, 16 assists and 15 rebounds, securing his triple-double by the midpoint of the third period.
The Heat got 23 points from Norman Powell, 22 from Andrew Wiggins, 21 from Jaime Jaquez Jr. and 13 points and 13 rebounds from Ware.
Denver also got 24 points from Aaron Gordon, the other factor in a power play that included a final 68-44 margin overall on the boards and 21-5 on offensive rebounds.
“The tale of the game would be those relief points, just crushing us on the glass,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday night’s game:
1. Game flow: The Nuggets led 36-33 at the end of the opening period and 68-60 at halftime, with their lead 11 late in the second period.
The Nuggets stood with a 36-17 advantage on the boards at halftime, including a 14-1 edge on offensive rebounds.
With Ware opening the second half at center, it quickly got worse from there, with Spoelstra forced into a timeout 1:46 into the third quarter, after Denver moved to an 80-66 lead.
The Nuggets then took a 101-86 lead into the fourth.
“We could have put ourselves in a position to win,” Spoelstra said.
2. Adebayo injured: Adebayo left with 3:48 to play in the opening period and the Heat up 27-24, retreating to the locker room at that stage, his night over after a 1-of-5 start from the field, with two points and one rebound.
Adebayo appeared to hurt his leg when he bumped into the Nuggets’ Cam Johnson.
“A guy hit me in the back of the leg and then I felt the pain in my foot,” said Adebayo, who was limping but not in a walking boot in the locker room.
With two-way player Vlad Goldin on assignment in the G League, it left Ware as the lone center on the roster, eventually requiring the insertion of Keshad Johnson into power the rotation in the second period.
Precious Achiuwa, cut by the Heat on the eve of the season to duck below the luxury tax, has since signed with the Sacramento Kings.
The Heat currently do not have room under the luxury tax to add another player, although Goldin could be recalled from the Sioux Falls Skyforce ahead of their Friday season opener.
3. Started small: After the Heat lost to the Nuggets in the 2023 NBA Finals when they were unable to contend with the Nuggets’ size, they nonetheless opened for a second consecutive game with a smallball lineup.
So it again was Adebayo flanked by wings Powell, Wiggins, Pelle Larsson and Davion Mitchell.
The Heat’s lack of bulk became more apparent with the Nuggets able to replace Jokic’s bulk when he went out with the bulk of Jonas Valanciunas off the bench.
Even before Adebayo went out, the Heat were decidedly undersized.
“It was just tough especially on a team we’ve only got two guys who can play the five on this team,” Powell said of Adebayo and Ware.
4. Powell play: Powell went from Monday night’s victory in his reunion game against the Clippers to 14 points in his first seven minutes Wednesday.
The Nuggets opened in a zone, daring the Heat to beat them over the top. Powell responded by opening 3 of 3 from beyond the arc. Powell also was 5 of 5 from the line in his initial eight minute stint.
Wiggins then took over the Heat scoring from there.
5. Homeward bound: The Heat next play six of their next seven at home, starting with Friday night’s opener of their NBA Cup schedule against the Charlotte Hornets.
If it seems as if the Heat’s schedule has been compact, it has, with the game in Denver completing a run of three games in four nights. When factoring in the Hornets game and a Saturday home game against the Portland Trail Blazers, it means the Heat will have played every day this week other than Tuesday and Thursday, for five games in seven nights.