Heat Visit Nuggets: Facts And Figures

Injury Report:

Heat center Dexter Pittman is out indefinitely with strained quadriceps. For the Nuggets, guard Julyan Stone is on temporary hiatus after his offseason hip surgery, while forward Danilo Gallinari is doubtful for tonight's matchup with a sore knee.

Starting Lineups: (PPG, RPG, APG, SPG, BPG)

Miami Heat:

PG - Mario Chalmers (9.1, 3.7, 6.8, 2.2, 0.3)

SG - Dwayne Wade (18.3, 4.5, 5.3, 1.4, 0.9

SF - Shane Battier (8.5, 3.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.3)

PF - LeBron James (25.1, 9.7, 6.4, 0.8, 0.9)

C - Chris Bosh (22.3, 8.5, 1.6, 1.0, 1.5)

Denver Nuggets:

PG - Ty Lawson (13.5, 2.4, 7.8, 2.1, 0.1)

SG - Andre Igoudala (15.4, 7.5, 4.1, 1.3, 1.1)

SF - Corey Brewer (11.1, 3.9, 0.5, 1.1, 0.4)

PF - Kenneth Faried (13.9, 10.8, 0.5, 0.8, 1.1)

C - Kosta Koufos (7.4, 6.0, 0.4, 0.6, 1.9)

Splits:

Denver - In his only game against the Heat, the Manimal Kenneth Faried scored 22 points with 12 boards. Andre Igoudala averages 13.7 points with 6.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists in just over three quarters per game against Miami. Andre Miller has averaged 15.5 points and 7.3 assists in his long career vs. Miami (36 games).

Miami - Against the Nuggets, LBJ averages 40 minutes, 27 points, seven rebounds, and seven and a half assists. DWade averages 37 minutes, 26 points, five rebounds and five dimes. Bosh plays 35 minutes, scores 17 points, grabs 10 boards and dishes out 3 assists per game. Each of the big three has appeared in 17 contests against Denver.

Heat Milestones:

Chris Bosh needs eight more field goals to give him 990, moving him past Voshon Lenard into 18th on the all-time list.

10 rebounds will move Joel Anthony past Bimbo Coles into 19th with 1070.

14 rebounds for LeBron James to pass Tim Hardaway into 13th all-time, with 1,181.

With 12 more rebounds, forward Udonis Haslem will become Miami's all-time leader, passing Alonzo Mourning with 4,808.

With six assists, LeBron James will move into Miami's All-Time top 10, with 1,003, displacing Grant Long.

LBJ needs 17 points to pass Shaquille O'Neal into 10th on Miami's all-time scoring list, with 4,032 points.

Birthdays:

Kenneth Faried turns 23 this coming Monday.

Musical Reference:

Cake - I Will Survive (via MKhairul Aminuddin)

So we lost a game, big deal. We're the champs until somebody eliminates us from postseason contention. The point is we will survive. This little gem comes to you courtesy of Cake, off their album Fashion Nugget.

Prognostication:

I'll be honest, the Manimal scares the crap out of me. The Heat is one of few teams who have someone to keep him grounded, in LBJ. Miami has had a hard time slowing their opponents down from outside, but tonight Denver is coming up short, going into battle without one of their top sharpshooters, in Danilo Gallinari. Again, the key to victory is Miami's ability to prevent opposing offensive rebounds despite a distinct lack of bigs on the floor. Look for Miami to bounce back tonight with a four point win.