MIAMI — There are times when Marcus Camby thinks it falls on deaf ears.
“It’s a team game,” the Nuggets center says. Sometimes once, sometimes repeatedly — depends on the interview.
Never were those words more appropriate than Tuesday night in the Nuggets’ 114-113 overtime victory against the Miami Heat at AmericaAirlines Arena.
J.R. Smith came off the bench to lead a balanced Nuggets attack with 28 points, making a career-high eight 3-pointers.
“We’re a solid team,” Camby said. “We got production from everywhere.”
And the Nuggets needed it to gut out their fourth straight victory on the road. The Heat may own the NBA’s worst record, but it no longer plays the part of a team that brings up the league’s rear. Energy and athleticism abound in Miami.
There is a spirit not seen for the better part of the season now that Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks have come to town, traded to Phoenix in exchange for Shaquille O’Neal.
That newfound fight pushed the game to overtime. But the Nuggets came up with the necessary stops to win.
Dwyane Wade’s desperation jumper as clock ran out in overtime found the rim but not the bottom of the net, and the Heat lost for the 23rd time in its past 24 games.
“I think a lot of it had to do with coach’s (George Karl) speech at halftime,” Nuggets guard Allen Iverson said. “He really got into us, just telling us basically we weren’t doing anything on both ends of the court.”
To wit: The Heat shot 61 percent from the field in the first half to take a 63-57 lead into the locker room. Three players were in double figures in scoring, Wade was finishing shots in the lane on a regular basis, and the Heat had eight more rebounds than the visitors.
The Nuggets, meanwhile, lacked fire on both the offensive and defensive ends, though they did shoot 48 percent from the field.
Kenyon Martin was the catalyst in the third quarter, scoring 12 of his 24 points as the Nuggets took an 84-78 advantage into the fourth quarter.
“I’m just going out and playing,” Martin said. “Just going out and doing what I can to help us win.”
Smith took over the lead role in the fourth, heating up with four 3-pointers in the quarter, keeping the Nuggets in the game.
“You had so many other guys step up,” Iverson said. “If J.R. doesn’t play the way he played, if Kenyon don’t play the way he played, we would probably have struggled. That’s what we’re going to need.”
Iverson finished with 16 points on 5-of-20 shooting, with seven assists and six rebounds. Anthony finished with 22 points, on 9-of-23 shooting, and 11 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season.
Camby finished with 16 and seven blocks.
Much of the talk from the Miami point of view was letting Wade bring the ball up court and take the final shot in OT without calling a timeout.
“Once Dwyane got it,” Heat coach Pat Riley said, “sometimes I think it’s better to go.”
Wade had 29 points and 10 assists. But in the fourth and OT, Wade had 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
Long-range goals
Nuggets guard J.R. Smith made a career-high eight 3-pointers Tuesday night. A look at his past two games, compared to his first 40 games:
3-pointers Pct. Pts.
40 games 60-163 37% 9.1
Sunday 6-11 55% 18
Tuesday 8-14 57% 28
Nuggets Recap
What you might have missed
Anthony Carter drew a sizable crowd, chatting up Miami-area reporters before the game. He played for the Heat for four seasons from 1999-2003.
Final thought
They still haven’t learned their lesson about playing solidly from the start, but the Nuggets won anyway.
DENVER AT ORLANDO
5 p.m. tonight, Altitude, KKFN 950 AM
Spotlight on Hedo Turkoglu: Though Dwight Howard has garnered nearly all of the headlines, Turkoglu has quietly played a big role in keeping the Magic among the contenders in the Eastern Conference. The forward has had a career season, averaging 19.5 points and 6.2 boards per game. He has also been the Magic’s go-to guy for late-game heroics, hitting a couple of game-winning shots this year.
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
