Heat back to basics in impressive win over Nuggets – ‘Proof is in the pudding’

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Heat back to basics in impressive win over Nuggets – ‘Proof is in the pudding’

Zachary Weinberger, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Tue, Dec 30, 2025 ·

4 min read

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Heat back to basics in impressive win over Nuggets – 'Proof is in the pudding' appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

MIAMI – With the Miami Heat showing the formula for success in last Saturday's win over the Indiana Pacers , the momentum carried into Monday night as the team beat the Denver Nuggets , 147-123, to win their third straight game. As the Heat were looking to get better after losing eight of its last nine games before the three-game winning streak, Monday's outing further proved that the team's style of play can win key games.

Playing at a fast-pace through their free-flowing offensive system, Miami scored 147 points, which marks the most points scored this season. It's also the seventh time this season the Heat have scored at least 140, as entering the year, the team only done that eight times in the history of the franchise.

For a returning Bam Adebayo , who recorded 13 points and 10 rebounds, the "proof is in the pudding."

"Obviously, when we play with pace, we play off rebounds, we defend and get stops, we can score 147, and you can see, everybody feels involved," Adebayo said.

Miami was firing on all cylinders with a 41-point first quarter, and even with the level of activity defensively, Denver stayed with it, led by superstar Nikola Jokic . However, Jokic would suffer a concerning knee injury towards the end of the first half and wouldn't return, leading to the home team taking control, beginning with a 26-9 run to start the third quarter.

"There's going to be ebbs and flows during the season, but we're getting more consistent to the identity… it just felt more recognizable, and the more consistent we can get to that, the activity level defensively," Spoelstra said.

"And the slower we play, I think the more average we become," Spoelstra continued. "It's got to feel different when you actually play against it, and it requires mental and physical energy and commitment every single night, which we're fully capable of."

Monday also saw Miami record its best single-game offensive rating of the season, which involved 144.1 points per 100 possessions.

Norman Powell on what he 'loves' about the Heat

While Monday's win for the Heat served as a great example of the type of team they are, it also helps that the way the roster was able to generate shots is a key aspect of their production. It also helps that Miami made 53.5 percent of its shots and also connected on 22 three-pointers, but both the starters and especially the bench, led by Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic, were equally electric.

The Heat were led by another standout performance from Norman Powell , who scored 25 points with four assists. While he shouted out Jaquez, who recorded 20 points and a career-high 11 assists, and Jovic with his 22 points, he would speak about the prior slump being a part of the usual "highs and lows" a NBA team goes through.

"It's a long season, 82 games. I've been in this for 11 years," Powell said. "You know, every team I've been on goes through it, we're just battling, fighting, have some injuries, trying to figure it out, in some close battles…it's part of the season."

"I love this team in the way we have our mentality tied together, trying to figure it out, going through the tough times together, talking, communicating, just trying to get back on the right chord and get these wins," Powell continued. "And I think we figured it out. And just the play style and the mentality and approach that we have to have on a nightly basis, we can't get bored with the process and going out there and competing every single night."

At any rate, Miami now enters 2026 with a three-game winning streak at an 18-15 record as the team gets a two-day break before Thursday's game against the Detroit Pistons .

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