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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
DENVER (AP) -- Disgruntled and distracted, the Denver Nuggets
still weren't very dangerous.
|  | | Miami guard Tim Hardaway (10) drives past Denver's Nick Van Exel as Heat kept the Nuggets down. |
Less than 24 hours after threatening to boycott the game Tuesday night, the rebellious Nuggets hardly looked inspired in a 96-85 defeat against the Miami Heat.
"We could have gave a little more effort," forward George
McCloud said. "As players, we all have to look at each other and
do some soul-searching individually. It's a hurting feeling because
we didn't intend for this to explode the way it has."
Coming off an 0-4 road trip, the Nuggets refused to practice
Monday and then spoke of skipping the Miami game to further protest
coach Dan Issel's workout schedule.
Everybody showed up for tip-off after a pregame team meeting,
but the result was a familiar one as Denver committed 16 turnovers
and lost to Miami for the second time in seven days.
"I told them that they need to come and talk to me," Issel
said. "That was an awful poor way to handle it. ... Anybody thinks
they weren't going to show up for shootaround today or for this
game tonight is a fool."
Eddie Jones scored 28 points and Anthony Mason added 15 and nine
rebounds for the Heat, who pulled away in the second half for their
11th consecutive victory over Denver.
"I don't know much about their situation," Mason said. "I
expected them to come out hard because of the last game."
Antonio McDyess led the Nuggets with 22 points and 12 rebounds
for his seventh double-double in eight games, and McCloud came off
the bench to score 18 points. It wasn't enough against a Miami team
that also had something to prove.
After watching the Heat squander a 24-point lead at Sacramento
on Sunday, coach Pat Riley said he wanted his team to show more
"guts."
Miami, which has won five of six, again built a double-figure
lead against Denver before the Nuggets put together a modest rally.
After Brian Grant's dunk put the Heat up 73-59 with 9:35
remaining, McDyess scored six consecutive points in an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to six.
"We are the NBA's best CPR," Riley said. "We do it for other
teams."
Jones made sure the Heat avoided another collapse, scoring
Miami's next 10 points to put the advantage back to 83-70 with four
minutes left.
"We said, 'Come on, not again,"' Jones said. "We all did it.
We started rebounding, pushing the ball up the court."
The first half was what fans in the half-empty arena should have
expected from two mediocre teams. Neither could put together any
offensive flow, and the game was tied at 38 at halftime.
"I thought the first half for both teams was tough. It was very
quiet in the building and there wasn't a lot of energy," Riley
said. "The first team that could mount any kind of surge was going
to win the game and we were the first to make a run at it."
The best sequence in the first 24 minutes came when the Nuggets
missed two long shots, but saved the ball from going out of bounds
three times. They finally scored when McDyess scored on a wide-open
dunk.
Unfortunately for Denver, the spurts of hustle were short-lived,
and the Nuggets face two more games on the road, where they are
2-9.
"The only way you're going to quiet this type of distraction or
interruption is to win games and play well," McCloud said. "We
have to own up to what we did and accept that what we did was
wrong. We all do."
Game notes
Nuggets guard Tariq Abdul-Wahad did not play because of the flu. ... Left-handed pitcher Denny Neagle, who signed a $51 million contract
with the Colorado Rockies last week, attended the game. ... Jones
has made 58 of 63 free throws this season. ... Denver last beat the Heat on
March 3, 1995.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Miami Clubhouse
Denver Clubhouse
Nuggets deny making threats to boycott game
RECAPS
Toronto 104
Indiana 90
Cleveland 92
Dallas 87
New Jersey 116
Minnesota 94
Atlanta 107
Sacramento 99
Miami 96
Denver 85
Seattle 97
Orlando 92
Portland 101
Golden State 93
Milwaukee 109
LA Lakers 105
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