Chalmers injured, Heat hold off Nuggets (AP)

MIAMI (AP)—Mike Bibby(notes) came to Miami to provide veteran leadership. The
Heat soon may be asking him for much more.

LeBron James(notes) scored 33 points, Dwyane Wade(notes) had 32 and Miami never trailed
during a 103-98 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night.

Chris Bosh(notes) finished with his fifth straight double-double, 18 points and 11
rebounds. But the Heat may have taken a significant hit when starting point
guard Mario Chalmers(notes) was carried off the floor late in the first quarter with
what was preliminarily diagnosed as a sprained right knee.

Bibby, the only other true point guard on Miami’s roster, scored 14.

J.R. Smith(notes) had 27 points and Danilo Gallinari(notes) finished with 23 for Denver,
which went 0-2 on their back-to-back swing through Florida after losing in
Orlando on Friday night. Denver was without point guard Raymond Felton(notes), who
sprained his ankle in the final minute of that loss to the Magic and is not
expected to play when the Nuggets host Toronto on Monday.

Ty Lawson(notes) scored 16 points, Wilson Chandler(notes) finished with 12 and Nene scored
10 for the Nuggets, who also played much of Saturday without guard Arron
Afflalo(notes). He aggravated a left hamstring strain in the first half and did not
return.

But Chalmers’ health concerns clearly seemed the most pressing of all.

Chalmers was guarding Lawson on the right wing with about 1 minute left in
the first quarter when he got hurt. Lawson tried to drive and Chalmers tumbled
backward, appearing to favor his left leg. Chalmers tried to recover, then
making contact with Lawson’s outstretched right leg as he made a jumper.

Chalmers, who has started 27 straight games since Jan. 22, went down,
holding his right knee. He will be re-examined on Sunday.

James picked up where he left off in Atlanta on Friday night, shooting 6 for
8 in the opening quarter for 13 points and helping stake the Heat to a 29-21
lead. But by then, Denver was finding its groove, and actually got within one on
a 3-pointer by Smith with 7:20 left until halftime.

Miami stretched the lead back to double-digits three times, only to see the
Nuggets keep rallying. And in the fourth, things got downright dicey for Miami,
with Denver getting within four twice.

The Nuggets never got any closer.

Gary Forbes(notes) made a 3-pointer with 10:09 left to help Denver close to 82-78,
and Gallinari scored inside about a minute later to keep the Nuggets within
four.

They didn’t score again for nearly four minutes, and the Heat put things
away with a 10-0 run.

Wade stole the ball from Gallinari, passed to Bosh, who found James for a
dunk that pushed Miami’s edge to 89-80. James added two free throws 28 seconds
later, and Wade hit a 3-pointer with 5:59 left to stretch the edge to 94-80.

Denver made one more late burst, closing to 99-94 on a jumper from Chandler
with 42.3 seconds left. But James—who is 31 for 46 from the field in his last
two games—sealed it with a runner off the glass with 21.5 ticks remaining.

So really, two big bursts were all Miami needed.

The Heat scored the game’s first 10 points, while Denver missed its first
seven shots. Wade connected on his first four shots, the last of which gave
Miami a quick 14-3 lead, and James had consecutive dunks to put the Heat up 25-9
in the early going.

Denver played uphill the rest of the way.

NOTES: The Heat honored former first-round pick Tim James, now an Army
Corporal, with a pregame ceremony, part of their tradition of recognizing
servicemen who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. … Miami was again without
center Zydrunas Ilgauskas(notes), who missed his fifth straight game with an infected
foot. … Lawson was the first Denver starter to reach double figures. Gallinari
and Smith, the Nuggets’ top two reserves, already had cracked the 10-point mark
by the time Lawson got there.