MIAMI _ Fighting the good fight ultimately might only have gotten the Miami Heat so far.
Because after these past two games, first Friday night's loss to the New York Knicks and Sunday's 116-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets at AmericanAirlines Arena, time is running out for a team trying to make the climb back from that 11-30 midseason record.
Unable to push past a team already on life support in the playoff race, the Heat now play three of their final five games on the road, all against teams in playoff contention, possibly to stand No. 10 in the East by the next time they take the court.
With Danilo Gallinari scoring 29 points, mostly over undersized Heat defenders, and Nikola Jokic adding 19, the Nuggets never trailed by more than a single point at any stage.
The Heat got 22 points from guard Goran Dragic and 16 points and 12 rebounds from center Hassan Whiteside.
The game ended with Heat guard Josh Richardson missing a potential game-tying 3-pointer just before the final buzzer.
Whiteside reached a pair of milestones in the first period, becoming the first Heat player to reach 1,000 rebounds in a season, and therefore also the franchise's first player with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a season. Also, with his 55th double-double, Whiteside tied Rony Seikaly's single-season record.
Both teams were short-handed, with the Heat again without Dion Waiters, and the Nuggets without Jameer Nelson, Will Barton and Darrell Arthur.
The Heat had to play the closing stages without starting power forward Luke Babbitt, who left in the third period with a hip flexor strain, further depleting a shorthanded Heat roster.
The Nuggets entered 2 { games behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the eighth and final playoff seed in the Western Conference.
The Heat made their final push when Tyler Johnson and James Johnson were inserted with 4:08 to play and the Heat down, 105-102.
A Gallinari 3-pointer with 2:11 to play later pushed the Nuggets to a 110-104 lead, with a Whiteside turnover following on the other end.
That's when Richardson converted his fourth 3-pointer of the game to draw the Heat within 110-107, before Emmanuel Mudiay scored in transition on the other end for a 112-107 Denver lead with 1:17 left.
James Johnson then converted a 3-pointer with 1:08 left to being the Heat within 112-110, but Jokic then converted a jumper for a 114-110 Denver lead, with Tyler Johnson seeing his shot blocked on the other end.
Ultimately, the Heat regained possession down 114-110 with 17.4 seconds to play, after a Nuggets 24-second violation.
A Tyler Johnson 3-pointer with 10.8 seconds to play then drew the Heat within 114-113.
Nuggets guard Jamal Murray then was fouled with 9.5 seconds to play and both teams out of timeouts.
Murray, in his first trip of the game to the line, converted both for a 116-113 Denver lead.
A Richardson 3-pointer with 10:08 to play gave the Heat their first lead of the game, which, at 94-93 also represented the Heat's largest team in their past two games to that stage.
Later, a Richardson 3-pointer with 8:38 left put the Heat up 100-99, the Heat still yet to lead by more than a point.
The Heat used a 15-4 surge midway through the third quarter to pull into a 79-79 tie, the game's first tie since 0-0.
The Heat, however, never were able to take their first lead of the game in the period, going into the fourth quarter down 93-87.
Gallinari was up to 24 points by then for the Nuggets, with Dragic at 20 points at that point for the Heat.
The Heat put together a deplorable defensive first half, trailing 68-58 at the intermission, with the Nuggets marching to a series of layups on their halfcourt sets.
The 68 points were the most by an opponent at AmericanAirlines Arena this season.
The Nuggets had two turnovers on their first three possessions and then just one the balance of the first half.
The Heat scored 30 points in the first period and still were down seven going into the second period, with the Heat allowing .609 shooting over the first period.
The Nuggets utilized their advantages with Jokic and Gallinari at every turn in the first period, with Jokic scoring 11 and Gallinari nine, simply scoring over the top of Rodney McGruder.
Dragic led the Heat with 12 first-quarter points.
The Heat were coming off Friday's 98-94 home loss to the Knicks, just 5-5 in their previous 10 games overall and 2-2 in their previous four home games.
The Nuggets were coming off Friday's 122-114 loss in Charlotte, N.C., entering on a three-game losing streak, with losses in five of their previous seven amid their battle with the Trail Blazers for the final playoff berth in the Western Conference.
The Heat won the first game of the two-game season series 106-98 Nov. 30 in Denver, behind 25 points and 16 rebounds from Whiteside.
The Heat entered having won three in a row from the Nuggets, seeking to sweep the season series for the second time in as many years.
The Heat had won five of the previous six meetings at AmericanAirlines Arena.
This was the third-to-last home game of the regular season for the Heat and their last of the season against the Western Conference.
The game was the third of a five-game trip for the Nuggets.
The Heat were without Dion Waiters, Justise Winslow, Josh McRoberts and Chris Bosh, with the Nuggets without Jameer Nelson, Darrell Arthur and Will Barton.
