Nuggets at Heat
After leaving Madison Square Garden in their rear-view mirror, the Miami Heat will look for a better performance on Saturday when they host the Denver Nuggets. LeBron James scored 23 points, but Miami did not resemble a defending champion in Friday's 104-84 setback to New York. James will likely be inspired on Saturday after the Heat unveil a banner to commemorate his gold medal at the London Olympics prior to Saturday's contest.
Denver has been snake-bitten by a pair of slow starts. On Friday, the Nuggets fell behind by 19 points at the half before settling for a 102-89 loss to Orlando. Danilo Gallinari returned to the lineup following a sprained left ankle and scored 23 points in the setback.
TV: 7:30 p.m., Altitude (Denver), Sun Sports (Miami)
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (0-2): If Denver wishes to salvage the finale of its three-game road trip in South Beach, it would be well-served to shoot better from the field. The Nuggets converted on 32 of 84 attempts to essentially shoot themselves out of the contest against Orlando. Andre Iguodala was one of the primary culprits for the troublesome display, going just 3-for-10 from the field to finish with nine points.
ABOUT THE HEAT (1-1): As dominating as Miami looked in its 120-107 season-opening victory over Boston, well, it looked equally as dreadful in its lopsided loss to New York. James and Dwyane Wade openly questioned whether the game should be played in the wake of Superstorm Sandy - and the rest of the team's play was questionable at best. Mario Chalmers struggled by going 1-for-5 from the field - including misfiring on all three 3-point attempts.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Denver will return home to play two of its next three contests - beginning by hosting Detroit on Tuesday.
2. The Nuggets posted a 117-104 victory over the Heat in the teams' lone meeting last season.
3. Miami will travel to the Rocky Mountains to face Denver again on Nov. 15.