HHH GameTime Preview: Denver Nuggets (28-38) visit the Miami Heat (38-28)

Tonight at 7:30 PM, the Miami Heat will host the Denver Nuggets at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, FL. This is the second and final contest this season between the two, with Miami earning a 98-95 victory in Denver on January 15th.

Miami is just coming off a 1-2 roadtrip and starting a three-game homestand. After tonight's game, they'll face the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday night and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.

Denver just finished a seven-game homestand with a 5-2 record, and are starting a five-game roadtrip. They'll go on to play the Orlando Magic tomorrow night, the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday, the Hornets on Saturday and the Cavaliers next Monday.

The last time Miami played the Nuggets, as noted above, was on January 15th, when Miami rode a Hassan Whiteside triple-double to a 98-95 win. Whiteside had 19 points, 17 rebounds, and 11 blocked shots. Chris Bosh scored 24, and Tyler Johnson came off the bench for 15 with four helpers. Darrell Arthur paced the Nuggets with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Emmanuel Mudiay had 16 with four assists off the bench.

I told Coach when I got on the bus my knee felt the best it's felt since I injured it. I told him, `Don't limit my minutes. I'm back to that athletic Hassan you know. - Whiteside

Denver Stiffs has more on the Nuggets.

Miami's last game would see them extend the Toronto Raptors to overtime before eventually falling by a final count of 112-104. Joe Johnson led Miami with 28 points, five assists and four rebounds, Luol Deng had 20 with five boards, Hassan Whiteside had 13 points and 11 rebounds with three blocks, and Goran Dragic was on triple-double watch before finishing with 13 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. DeMar DeRozan had 38 points for Toronto in the win, adding 10 rebounds and seven helpers for good measure. Jonas Valanciunas had 20 and 10 in the win.

It's tough. We put ourselves in position to win that ballgame, Luol hitting the big 3 at the end of regulation to put us into overtime. We felt we had a breath of fresh air, we just couldn't come up with the big plays down the stretch. - Johnson

SB Nation's Raptors hub is over at Raptors HQ.

Denver's last time out would see the Nuggets defeat the Washington Wizards for their fourth straight win, 116-100 on Saturday night. Gary Harris, Darrell Arthur, DJ Augustin, and Jusuf Nurkic each scored 17 points in the win, while the Wizards were led by 23 from Otto Porter. John Wall had 19 and 11 assists in the Wizards loss.

We got stops, took advantage of our stops and ran. We came in and played team basketball, covered for each other, turned those guys over and took advantage. - Arthur

Bullets Forever will forever have Wizards' news.

GameTime: 7:30 PM, FS-SUN, Altitude

All-Time Heat-to-Head: Miami holds a 30-27 edge against the Nuggets in head-to-head action.

Injury Report

Miami Heat: Chris Bosh and Tyler Johnson (shoulder) are out until further notice. Wade (thigh bruise) is questionable for the game.

Denver Nuggets: Danilo Gallinari (ankle) remains sidelined for a couple of more weeks and Wilson Chandler (hip) is out for the season. Joffrey Lauvergne (cheekbone) is questionable.

Probable Starting Lineups

Miami Heat
PG - Goran Dragic
SG - Dwyane Wade
C - Amar'e Stoudemire
SF - Joe Johnson
PF - Luol Deng

Denver Nuggets
PG - Emmanuel Mudiay
SG - Gary Harris
C - Nikola Jokic
SF - JaKarr Sampson
PF - Kenneth Faried