Denver Nuggets Team Report - February 22

(Basketball News) - The Denver Nuggets lost to the Miami Heat, 97-81, on Saturday at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Carmelo Anthony led the Nuggets with 16 points on just 3-of-20 shooting in the contest. Andre Miller added 15 points and Voshon Lenard chipped in 14 for Denver, which lost its second straight following a three-game win streak.

Miami trailed by five, 45-40, at the half, but dominated the third quarter to take control of the contest. With the score at 54-48 several minutes into the third, the Heat proceeded to post a 27-12 burst to close out the quarter.

Aggressive play allowed Miami to continuously get to the free throw line in the decisive period, hitting 13-of-16 attempts from the stripe. Lamar Odom led the way with 12 points in the quarter while making five of his six free throw tries. Caron Butler made all four of his shots from the charity stripe during the period as well, helping Miami claim a 75-66 advantage after three quarters of play. The Heat outscored the Nuggets 35-21 in the third quarter.

With 10 of the first 14 points of the fourth quarter, Miami’s lead ballooned to 15 points at 85-70. Udonis Haslem scored eight points during the run for the Heat. Denver was never able to get back into the contest after falling behind by double digits.

The Nuggets are off until Monday when they visit Pau Gasol and the surprising Memphis Grizzlies.