Chandler and Nuggets take down Heat
Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - Wilson Chandler scored 17 points and the Denver Nuggets snapped a four-game losing skid with a 102-82 rout of the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
The Nuggets turned a 48-48 halftime score into a comfortable lead thanks to a dominant third quarter.
Chandler set the tone with a jumper less than a minute in. Ty Lawson followed with five straight points and J.J. Hickson's putback layup forced a Miami timeout.
Denver continued to expand its lead, with Timofey Mozgov's three-point play with just over a minute remaining in the period making it 72-59. Erick Green beat the buzzer with a deep 3, and the Nuggets took a 79-62 lead into the fourth.
"Once again, we keep a team under 100 points," said Nuggets coach Brian Shaw.
The margin reached 27 in the final period, as Denver rode its reserves to the finish line.
Arron Afflalo scored 16 points while Lawson tallied 10 points and nine assists for the Nuggets. Kenneth Faried netted 13 with eight rebounds in his return to the court and Green scored a career-high 11 points.
"I'm still young, but every day I try to show I can hold my own," Green said.
Chris Bosh paced Miami with 14 points and Norris Cole finished with six points, eight assists and eight boards in the humbling defeat. The Heat have lost five of six.
"Offensively, we didn't get the ball where it needed to go," Bosh said. "We didn't work the offense much."
Denver led 16-4 early on before the Heat rattled off nine in a row. Luol Deng sandwiched a Cole layup later in the period to give Miami a 19-17 lead, but the Nuggets responded and led 22-21 after one.
Darrell Arthur's four-point play highlighted an 8-0 run to start the second, but again the Heat stormed back. Deng's jumper at the buzzer tied the score at the half.
Faried missed the last two games with a back injury and came off the bench for the first time this season in his return ... Chandler has scored in double figures in 16 straight games ... Miami shot just 30-for-82 from the floor while Denver made 38-of-85.