Gallinari's 29 lead Nuggets over Heat
MIAMI -- Danilo Gallinari scored 29 points to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 116-113 victory over the slumping Miami Heat on Sunday night.
Gallinari shot 11 of 19 from the field as the Nuggets (36-40) snapped a three-game losing streak and got to within two games of the idle Portland Trail Blazers for eighth place in the Western Conference playoff race.
Miami, which overcame an 11-30 start and got to within one game of .500 on three separate occasions the past two weeks, has lost four of its last five at home.
Jamal Murray's two free throws with 9.5 seconds left gave Denver its winning margin. Josh Richardson's game-tying 3-point attempt at the buzzer failed to hit the rim.
Nikola Jokic's jumper with 55.1 seconds left put the Nuggets ahead 114-110 lead before Tyler Johnson's 3-pointer with 10.8 seconds remaining cut the margin to 114-113.
Jokic finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and reserves Wilson Chandler and Emmanuel Mudiay scored 19 and 17 points, respectively, for the Nuggets, who will continue their five-game road trip Tuesday at New Orleans.
After trailing the first three quarters, the Heat (37-40) took their first lead, 94-93, on Richardson's 3-pointer with 1:52 into the fourth period.
Goran Dragic scored 22 points and Richardson finished with 17 points for Miami. After consecutive road victories over Detroit and New York, the Heat lost two straight at home to the Knicks and Nuggets. Miami will begin a three-game road trip Wednesday at Charlotte.
The Nuggets played their second straight without injured point guard Jameer Nelson and reserve guard Will Barton. Nelson missed Sunday's game because of a left calf strain, and Barton was sidelined due to left knee soreness.
NOTES: For the fifth time this season, the Nuggets recalled G Malik Beasley from the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA Developmental League. Beasley, a rookie from Florida State, averaged 18 points per game with the Skyforce and had four earlier stints with the Nuggets in which he averaged 2.4 points in 19 games. ... Former Villanova coach Rollie Massimino, who led the Wildcats to the 1985 national championship, was a special guest of Denver coach Michael Malone on Sunday, and he accompanied the Nuggets during shootaround and the pregame meal at the team's hotel. Massimino, 82, coaches at Keiser University in West Palm Beach, Fla. and his grandson, Tommy Jr., is an assistant video coordinator on the Nuggets' staff. ... G Dion Waiters has begun conditioning but is yet not cleared to practice. Waiters missed his eighth consecutive game Sunday because of a sprained left ankle he sustained in Miami's win over Minnesota March 17 ... The Heat is 0-8 on Sundays and finished 14-16 against the Western Conference.