The Denver Nuggets (22-12, 12-3 Home), one of the NBA’s top shooting teams, host the Miami Heat (18-17, 7-9 Away) on Friday. Miami defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 112-98 at FTX Arena on Wednesday. Jimmy Butler was a top performer with 27 points and six steals. The Heat are the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Denver lost a close one on Wednesday at Golden 1 Center, falling to the Sacramento Kings 127-126. Nikola Jokic had 40 points and six assists in the losing effort to lead the team. The Nuggets are trailing the New Orleans Pelicans by zero games in the Western Conference, currently sitting in second.
This marks the first meeting of the season between the teams. Denver won both games between the teams last season, the last of which was a 120-111 triumph at FTX Arena in November 2021, their seventh straight head-to-head victory.
Jokic led the Nuggets with 24 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists. Bam Adebayo had 24 points in the loss. Tyler Herro and Adebayo, averaging 21.0 and 20.9 points per game, respectively, have led the Heat in scoring this season.
Adebayo also has grabbed 9.9 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Kyle Lowry is dishing 6.0 assists per game.Jokic (25.7 ppg) has powered the Nuggets’ offense. Jokic has also posted 10.8 rebounds and 9.4 assists per game, for which he ranks seventh and third in the league, respectively.
Shooting 50.6% from the field for the season, the Nuggets are one of the most accurate field goal shooting teams in the league (2nd). The Nuggets have found success in recent matchups between the teams at Ball Arena, winning six of the last 10. Miami is pursuing a fifth successive win away from FTX Arena this season.
Denver is pursuing a seventh successive home win this season.In the last 10 games, Miami is 7-3 with an average margin of +2.5 (108.1-105.6). Denver has an 8-2 record over the last 10, scoring 119.6 points per game on average while holding opponents to 115.5 (+4.1 margin).
HEAT HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points per game:
Kyle Lowry: 19.5 | 14.4 | +5.1
Max Strus: 9.6 | 12.9 | -3.3
Rebounds per game:
Tyler Herro: 3.8 | 5.8 | -2.0
Assists per game:
Jimmy Butler: 3.7 | 5.7 | -2.0
NUGGETS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Jamal Murray: 39.3 | 27.9 | +11.4
Bruce Brown: 13.0 | 19.0 | -6.0
Points per game:
Jamal Murray: 25.3 | 18.3 | +7.0
Bones Hyland: 9.4 | 13.0 | -3.6
Rebounds per game:
Aaron Gordon: 8.7 | 6.7 | +2.0
Assists per game:
Jamal Murray: 8.0 | 5.7 | +2.3
SportsTips’ NBA Pick:
Denver Nuggets (-165)
Want up to a $1K risk free bet for this pick?
Claim with 
today!
If you need more news, information and predictions, head over to our NBA hub page for all your basketball needs!
*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
