Combined, the Nuggets and Heat average 210 points per game. How could tonight’s game between the top two scoring teams in the NBA not be a track meet?
That, however, doesn’t mean both teams don’t have multiple strategies ready to hold down the other’s fast-paced attack.
First up, Nuggets coach George Karl on how his team can best handle all Miami’s firepower.
“I think (the key) to tonight’s game to is good offense,” Karl said. “I know that sounds crazy because I think it’s going to be a defensive game, but in a lot of ways it’s the team that is going to create good shot selection, good offense, no turnovers, low turnovers, low mistakes. Good offense will control their offense, I think.”
Continued Karl: “They create a lot of turnovers, we create a lot of turnovers. We have a tendency to turn it over, they have a tendency to turn it over. If we win the turnover game and don’t give them 47 free throws and make it a 5-on-5 game for them and we play our normal game we’ll be OK.”
Karl’s players talk about slowing Miami down from a defensive frame of mind first.
“We have to get back in transition,” Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari said. “They are the first team in the league in transition points, so we’ve got to stop (Dwyane) Wade and LeBron (James) running the court like they’ve been doing. That’s the first thing that we’ve got to be focusing on.”
In a lot of ways, this is a measuring stick game for the 7-4 Nuggets, who desperately want to be included among the NBA’s elite teams. Miami, at 8-3, is already widely considered the best team in the league.
“We can measure ourselves at this point of the season and all of the things we need to work on,” Gallinari said. “We’re going to see where the bar is.”
Miami isn’t buying any under-the-radar talk about the Nuggets. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and his players all insist they are acutely aware of how dangerous the Nuggets are, even if there isn’t a ton of national chatter about the boys in powder blue.
“We know better,” Heat forward LeBron James said. “They are not talked about in the media as much because they don’t have that quote-unquote star. But this is a team game. As players, we notice what the Nuggets are doing. We know how balanced they are. We know how good of a team they are.”
Spoelstra says stopping the Nuggets starts with transition, and he doesn’t worry about the altitude playing a huge factor.
“It really is more how they play than it is the elements,” said Spoelstra, whose Heat has lost two straight games. “They emphasize their pace, their speed, their athleticism. That’s their advantage here at home.”
Added James: “In this building you have to get back in transition on makes and misses. They’ve always been at the top in fast break points, they get a lot of layups, so you have to make sure you get back. The altitude plays a part into it; they want to jump on you to start the game, so we’ve just got to follow our game plan and see what happens.”
Christopher Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
