Miami Heat vs Denver Nuggets Prediction, 2/29/2024 Preview and Pick

Game: Miami Heat vs Denver Nuggets

Date: Thursday, February 29, 2024

Location: Ball Arena in Denver, CO

TV: Altitude

The Denver Nuggets (39-19) will compete against the Miami Heat (33-25) at Ball Arena on Thursday.

The Heat faced off with the Trail Blazers and walked away with a win by a score of 106-96 in their last game. Miami wrapped up the game with a 52.9% FG percentage (37 of 70) and made 14 out of their 26 shots from downtown. At the free throw line, the Heat knocked down 18 of their 26 shots for a rate of 69.2%. In the matter of grabbing rebounds, they earned 34 with 6 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 29 dimes for the game in addition to forcing 17 turnovers and getting 8 steals. In terms of defending, Miami allowed their opponent to shoot 40.7% from the floor on 35 of 86 shooting. Portland totaled 24 assists and had 9 steals in the game. Furthermore, Portland snagged 40 rebounds (15 offensive, 25 defensive) and had 8 blocked shots. Portland ended up going 84.2% at the free throw line by making 16 of their 19 attempts. They converted 10 of 31 shots from distance. In regard to fouls, the Heat ended up walking away with 19 and the Trail Blazers accounted for 25 fouls.

Jimmy Butler is a player who was a major contributor in the matchup. He accumulated 22 points on 7 of 12 shooting. He played for 33 minutes and totaled 4 boards. Butler shot 58.3% from the field and totaled 9 assists.

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Miami will take the court with a win-loss record of 33-25 on the year. They cough up possession 13.1 times per game and as a squad they are committing 17.9 fouls per contest. As a unit, Miami is collecting 42.1 rebounds per contest and has racked up 1,503 assists this year, which is 20th in the NBA in terms of passing. The Heat are connecting on 37.5% on three-point attempts (722 of 1,926) and 81.8% from the free throw line. They average 110.6 pts per game (27th in the NBA) while going 46.5% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Heat are forcing their opponents into 13.9 turnovers per game while drawing 19.3 personal fouls. They currently rank 16th in basketball in allowing assists to the opposition with 1,550 surrendered for the season. The Heat are giving up a field goal percentage of 47.2% (2,360 of 5,005) and they relinquish 42.9 rebounds per contest as a squad. They relinquish 36.2% from 3-point land and they rank 3rd in the NBA in opponents points per game (109.9).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Nuggets took home the win by a final score of 119-103 when they played the Warriors. The Nuggets earned 33 defensive boards and 12 offensive rebounds for a total of 45 in the matchup. They also gave up possession of the ball 10 times, while getting 10 steals for this contest. The Warriors earned 18 fouls in the game which got the Nuggets to the free throw line for a total of 26 tries. They were able to knock down 22 of the free throw tries for a rate of 84.6%. In relation to shooting from 3-point land, Denver converted 11 out of their 32 attempts (34.4%). When the game finished, the Nuggets ended up going 43 out of 88 from the floor which had them sitting at 48.9%. The Nuggets permitted the Warriors to bury 35 of their 81 attempts from the floor which had them sitting at 43.2% in the matchup. They finished 32.4% from three-point range via 11 out of 34 and ended up going 22 out of 29 at the free throw line (75.9%). In regard to attacking the glass, Denver allowed Golden State to pull down 42 overall (11 on the offensive side).

Nikola Jokic was important for the Nuggets in this game. Jokic tallied 32 points in his 37 minutes on the court and tallied 16 assists in this contest. He converted 13 of 24 for this game for a field goal rate of 54.2%, and accumulated 16 rebounds.

Denver has a mark of 39-19 for the year. When it comes to offensive execution, the Nuggets are connecting on 49.2% from the field, which is ranked 6th in the league. Denver has accumulated 6,643 pts for the season (114.5 per contest) and they average 44.4 rebounds per game. They are dishing out assists 29.0 times per game (5th in the league) and they cough up possession 12.6 times per game. The Nuggets have committed 18.5 fouls per contest and they connect on 75.6% from the charity stripe.

The Denver defense gives up 36.4% on shots from beyond the perimeter (663 of 1,819) and their opposition knocks down 78.0% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 25.6 assists and 42.0 boards per contest, which is 8th and 7th in basketball. The Nuggets on the defensive end are ranked 7th in the league in points allowed per contest with 110.7. They are forcing 12.3 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 46.6% from the field (8th in the league).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Denver

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