Denver, CO
Denver beats Miami 100-88 in an NBA Finals rematch and moves atop the Western Conference
MIAMI (AP) — After four months of looking up at others in the Western Conference, Denver finally is alone atop the standings.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 25 points, Aaron Gordon added 16 and the reigning NBA champion Nuggets took sole possession of first place in the West standings with a 100-88 win over the sliding Miami Heat in a finals rematch on Wednesday night.
“If we can get (the No. 1 seed), sure, we’re going to take it,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “And we’re not going to shy away from that. You know, it was very effective for us last year, having home-court throughout the entirety of the playoffs.”
Jamal Murray scored 14 points and Nikola Jokic finished with 12 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for the Nuggets (46-20), who moved a half-game ahead of Oklahoma City (45-20) and a full game up on Minnesota (45-21) in the West race.
Denver is an NBA-best 10-1 since the All-Star break, and the Nuggets are 32-9 when their go-to starting five — Porter Jr., Gordon, Murray, Jokic and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — are together in the lineup. The Nuggets hadn’t ended a day alone atop the West since mid-November.
“When they want to put on the jets, they’ve been able to leave teams behind in the dust,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Bam Adebayo scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for Miami. Jimmy Butler scored 15, Terry Rozier had 14 and Duncan Robinson added 11 for the Heat (35-30), who are now 2 1/2 games behind Orlando — a winner over Brooklyn on Wednesday — in the Southeast Division race.
The Heat have lost four straight and remain No. 8 in the Eastern Conference, playing again Wednesday without Tyler Herro (foot) and Kevin Love (heel).
Denver is 12-1 in its last 13 games against the Heat, including last season’s NBA Finals, and has won seven consecutive games on Miami’s home floor.
Reggie Jackson made three jumpers in a span of three possessions late in the fourth for Denver, his seven-point flurry putting the Nuggets up by 10 with 3:38 left. That was more than enough; Denver held Miami to four points in the final 4:34 and outscored the Heat 28-17 in the fourth.
“They were playing off me, trying to guard the best player in the world — Jokic,” Jackson said.
Added Spoelstra: “They had their burst, and that was basically the game.”
Denver used a 15-0 run in the first quarter to build a double-digit lead, one that eventually reached 13 points in the opening period. The Nuggets led for all but 2:48 of the first half, but the Heat never trailed by more than eight in the second quarter.
And in the third, Miami finally — but briefly — reclaimed the lead. Former Nuggets center Thomas Bryant scored for a four-point lead late in the third, matching Miami’s biggest edge of the night, but Denver responded with a 10-2 run and stayed ahead the rest of the way.
“Something we always talk about is that your fourth quarter has to be your best quarter,” Malone said. “It’s closing time.”
UP NEXT
Nuggets: Visit San Antonio on Friday night.
Heat: Visit Detroit on Friday night, then again Sunday afternoon.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Denver, CO
‘I’m good.’ Bengals’ Amarius Mims says he’ll play vs. Denver Broncos after ankle injury
Amarius Mims thinks he’ll be ready for the biggest game of the Cincinnati Bengals’ season.
In Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns, Mims, an offensive tackle, was hampered by an ankle injury. He was in and out of the game as he battled the injury.
With a make-or-break home game against the Denver Broncos coming Saturday, Mims told The Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway he anticipated playing in the game.
“No, I’m good,” Mims told The Enquirer in the Bengals’ locker room post-game.
Absent Mims, the Bengals would be thin at tackle. That would make for less than ideal circumstances for quarterback Joe Burrow in a game of real significance.
After dropping to 4-8 on Dec. 1, the Bengals have played their way back to 7-8 and are attempting to overtake several teams including the Broncos for the final AFC Wild Card spot.
Saturday’s game against Denver is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff and will be broadcast on NFL Network.
Denver, CO
Suns lookahead: Phoenix looks to end Christmas skid in holiday matchup vs. Denver Nuggets
Phoenix Suns coming off back-to-back wins
The Phoenix Suns won their last two games despite missing injured guard Bradley Beal. What’s next for the team?
The Phoenix Suns will play in their fourth consecutive Christmas Day game Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets at Footprint Center.
The week begins with a Monday game at Denver and finishes with a back-to-back set: Friday’s home game against the Dallas Mavericks and Saturday’s matchup at Golden State.
It’s nice to play on the most celebrated holiday of the year, especially at home.
Family and loved ones in town. Everyone watching on national television.
A festive time for celebrating and gift-giving, but the Grinch keeps showing up and ruining Christmas for the Suns.
Phoenix is 1-7 in its past eight Christmas games, losing the past three to the Golden State Warriors, 116-107, in 2021; at the Denver Nuggets, 128-125 in overtime, in 2022; and against Dallas, 128-114, last year.
What’s even crazier is the Suns lost to teams that either won an NBA championship or reached the finals that season.
The Warriors won it all in the 2021-22 season, the Nuggets took it in 2022-23 and the Mavericks advanced to the finals before losing to the 2023-24 NBA champion Boston Celtics.
The Suns last won on Christmas in 2009, beating the Los Angeles Clippers, 124-93, at home. Phoenix went more than 10 seasons without playing on the holiday until the 2021-22 season, the year after it reached the 2021 finals.
Phoenix is 12-9 overall on Christmas.
Christmas 2021: Curry leads Warriors past Suns
The Suns played the centerpiece Christmas game in 2021 against the Warriors during their historic 64-win season. They entered the marquee matchup with a 26-5 record and on a five-game winning streak, but lost at home.
Phoenix bolstered the best home record that season at 32-9 with one of those rare losses coming on Christmas. The Suns didn’t score in the final three minutes while Otto Porter Jr. scored the game’s final seven points.
Stephen Curry punched out a game-high 33 points to go with six assists to just one turnover while Chris Paul led the Suns with 21 points and eight assists to two turnovers and six rebounds.
Devin Booker managed just 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting.
Christmas 2022: Booker injured early, Suns fall in OT
In 2022, the Suns lost Booker within the first five minutes of their Christmas loss to the Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver as he aggravated a groin injury. Scoring just two points, he had missed the previous three games.
Landry Shamet came off the bench to deliver 31 points to match a career-high, and Nikola Jokic posted another insane triple-double of 41 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists, but the game will forever be remembered for Aaron Gordon’s ferocious one-handed dunk in overtime over Shamet, who tried to take the charge on the play.
Gordon was first called for an offensive foul, but after review, the call was overturned because Shamet was ruled outside of the restricted area.
Gordon missed the ensuing free throw, but his dunk gave Denver a 126-123 lead with 24 seconds left.
Christmas 2023: Doncic 50-piece dooms Suns
Then last season, Luka Doncic cooked the Suns for 50 points in leading Dallas to victory at Footprint Center. Shooting 8-of-16 from 3, Doncic became the seventh-fastest to reach 10,000 career points.
Grayson Allen scored a team-high 32 points to lead the Suns, going 8-of-17 from 3 while Kevin Durant and Booker combined for just 36 points on 10-of-25 shooting.
The Suns were without Bradley Beal (right ankle sprain) and Jusuf Nurkic (personal reasons) while the Mavericks won despite Kyrie Irving being sidelined due to a heel injury.
The Suns now have another chance to win on Christmas.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
Denver, CO
Esther Romero
Esther Romero
OBITUARY
Esther Romero (Lopez), 84, entered into eternal rest surrounded by her loving family. Born in Mt. Harris, Colorado, a small coal mining town near Steamboat Springs, her family moved to Denver in 1950. She graduated from North High School in 1957 and was the first in her family to attend college. She left for Colorado State College now UNC in 1958 where she soon met the love of her life and future husband Richard Romero. Esther graduated in 1961, married a week later, and together moved to Castle Rock where she began her career as an educator. Before long they returned to Denver where their three daughters were born. In 1972, Esther became one of Denver Public Schools first bilingual bicultural teachers and soon earned her Masters Degree from UNC. A passionate advocate, she understood the value of building a strong educational foundation in a child’s home language and honoring culture while also learning English. She taught at Elmwood, Del Pueblo, and Fairmont elementaries. A founding member of the Congress of Hispanic Educators (CHE), Esther served as president for many years helping to ensure children in DPS had access to a quality bilingual education. She continued this work through her final days. Esther taught for 30 years, was recognized as a master teacher of children, an exceptional mentor and coach to future educators, and served as a liaison between CU-Denver and DPS. She was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma.
Esther enjoyed traveling with family and friends to Mexico, Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and almost all fifty states. She and Richard were avid Broncos fans holding season tickets since 1970, traveling to two Super Bowls. She loved organizing family gatherings, gambling trips, camping, reading, puzzles, and playing games with family. She had the unique ability to make everyone feel seen, heard, valued, and loved.
She was preceded in death by her parents Luis and Tommie G. Lopez, devoted husband Richard Romero, brother Baltazar Lopez ( Lourdes) and survived by her loving daughters Rosana (Dean) Trujillo, Carla (Arturo) Perez, Diana (John) Romero Campbell, and her grandchildren Arturito, Juliana, Claudia, Sofia, Orlando, Geronimo and Alicia, her sister Alice (Joe) Marquez, brothers Louie (Pat dec.) Lopez, Davey (Pat dec.) Lopez, Robert (Shari) Lopez, Ray (Melva) Lopez, and numerous extended family members. Please see www.cfcscolorado.org for service details.
-
Politics1 week ago
Canadian premier threatens to cut off energy imports to US if Trump imposes tariff on country
-
Technology1 week ago
OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever says the way AI is built is about to change
-
Politics1 week ago
U.S. Supreme Court will decide if oil industry may sue to block California's zero-emissions goal
-
Technology1 week ago
Meta asks the US government to block OpenAI’s switch to a for-profit
-
Business1 week ago
Freddie Freeman's World Series walk-off grand slam baseball sells at auction for $1.56 million
-
Technology1 week ago
Meta’s Instagram boss: who posted something matters more in the AI age
-
News1 week ago
East’s wintry mix could make travel dicey. And yes, that was a tornado in Calif.
-
Technology2 days ago
Google’s counteroffer to the government trying to break it up is unbundling Android apps