Nuggets vs. Heat: Game 51 Preview

(Boulder-CO) With all the injuries the Nuggets have had to battle so far this season I think that we should all be pretty surprised that they are 31-19 through 50 games. On the other hand, we can all be glad that we are not Miami Heat fans. On top of losing Shaq in a trade for Shawn Marion last week, the Heat are the NBA’s worst team at 9-40 and things may have just began to sink to an unfathomable low. Carmelo and crew have beaten the Heat five straight times since D-wade and Anthony first came into the league and tonight has all the ingredients needed in a stomping.

I should also mention that this Miami team has lost 22 of their last 23 games, is in the bottom five teams league-wide in offensive rebounds (29th), defensive rebounds (27th), total rebounds (30th), assists (25th), opposing blocks (28th), three-point shooting percentage (28th), field goals attempted (29th) and made (26th), the opposing team’s shooting percentage (26th), and with the ultimate smear are the league-wide loser in points scored per game at 92.3 (30th).

Whew, give me a second here...

The only two players on this Miami team (besides Wade, of course) that have hurt the Nuggets in the past are Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. In Denver's, 137-115, loss at Phoenix on Jan. 7, Marion scored 27 points by way of a three-point barrage. Marcus Banks also went berzerk from downtown off of a 7-8 performance good for 23 points as the Nuggets gave up a franchise record for three’s made in a game for the Suns. Fittingly, these two guys now play for the Heat as Phoenix’s end of the Shaq deal.

Other than those key points right there Denver better keep it real tonight and get this W.

Go Nuggets!