MIAMI — All it took to get to 3-1 on this eight-game road trip was a visit to a place where success has been recently guaranteed, as well as a barrage of inside scoring, a big fourth quarter and a huge helping of Kenyon Martin.
The Nuggets cruised Tuesday in a 99-82 rout of the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. The Nuggets hit the halfway point of the road trip in style, punishing the Heat in an effort that was the complete opposite of their meltdown during a 44-point loss at New Jersey on Saturday.
“We played with great passion,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “And our defense: (Anthony Carter) and Kenyon were tremendous.”
After Miami took a 10-9 lead in the first quarter, the Nuggets quickly gained control under the engineering of an active Martin. He not only scored 10 of his 18 points in the first, but complemented solid offense with effective defense and rebounding (10).
“I’m just trying to help us win, help us bounce back from the performance we had in Jersey,” Martin said. “Just trying to come out and be aggressive on both ends of the court and do everything I can to put us in position to win.”
Miami found its form in the third quarter, outscoring the Nuggets 19-8 to start the period and pull within five points (64-59). Mario Chalmers, who made just 1-of-7 shots in the first half, nailed all three of his shots in the third, including two 3-pointers.
But Denver answered Miami’s runs at every turn. When Udonis Haslem hit a jumper to bring Miami within four, Chauncey Billups countered with a 3-pointer. Michael Beasley made a layup on the ensuing possession to bring Miami back within five, but J.R. Smith nailed a baseline 3-pointer to put the Nuggets back up by eight.
The Nuggets went on a 21-7 run in the fourth, capped by a Billups 3-pointer with 2:48 left, to put the game away. Billups scored 19 points in the second half, 13 of the Nuggets’ 25 in the fourth, and finished with a team-high 23 points.
“We got open shots, and thankfully we made them,” Smith said. “The last couple of games we haven’t been making our shots like we’re supposed to.”
About the only thing that went wrong was losing Chris Andersen, who did not play in the second half with injuries to his left wrist and left hip after hitting the court hard on a dunk attempt late in the second quarter. He is listed as day to day with a wrist sprain and hip contusion.
But for their first game back after being blasted in New Jersey, the Nuggets returned to form. They are 13-4 in games after a loss and have won four straight games in Miami and eight against the Heat overall.
Carmelo Anthony grinded out a solid game, finishing with 19 points and nine rebounds. The Nuggets had 54 points in the paint, and especially hammered the Heat inside in the first half, scoring 36 of their points in the paint by halftime.
The Nuggets survived a game-high 33 points from Dwayne Wade, mostly because he had little help. Only two other players were in double figures, and the Nuggets’ defense limited Miami to 43.8 percent shooting from the field.
“It’s just a good feeling,” Karl said. “The passion they played with, and kind of the two days of listening to the naysayers . . . hopefully now we can go down to Orlando and figure out how to beat them.”
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
