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LeBron James had 27 points and 12 assists, and the short-handed Miami Heat ended a decade-long drought in Denver with a 98-93 win over the Nuggets on Thursday night.
Shane Battier added 18 points – all on 3-pointers – in the Heat’s first win at Denver since Jan. 29, 2002, a streak of 10 straight losses. Every other NBA team has won at the Pepsi Center during that span.
The Heat nearly blew a 19-point second-half lead but held on despite being without Dwyane Wade (foot) and Mario Chalmers, who went to the bench after just 7 1/2 minutes with a strained right triceps.
Andre Miller had 19 points and Kenneth Faried led the Nuggets with 16 points and a career-high 20 rebounds. Ty Lawson, who is averaging 13.5 points, didn’t score.
Lawson would have given Denver its first lead of the night with 5:35 remaining, but his basket was waived off when he was whistled for an offensive foul for running over Battier…
JaVale McGee had 18 points, including a hook shot after getting the inbounds with just 0.4 seconds left on the shot clock that made it 79-74, and the Nuggets chipped away until Andre Miller’s three-point play pulled Denver to 85-84.
— Reported by Arnie Stapleton of the Associated Press
