DENVER _ There have been enough Wayne Ellington Games against the Miami Heat over the years that turnaround was the fairest of play Wednesday night against the Denver Nuggets.
With Dion Waiters, Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson out, the Heat needed a wing to take flight. So Ellington let it fly, his four fourth-quarter 3-pointers allowing the Heat to open their three-game trip with a 106-98 victory at the Pepsi Center.
With center Hassan Whiteside and guard Goran Dragic putting the Heat in position, Ellington took over from there.
Whiteside finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds, with Dragic with 16 points and seven assists. Ellington shot 5 of 9 on 3-pointers to close with 22 points.
The Heat not only bought time with Whiteside and Dragic on the bench to start the fourth quarter, but moved ahead 89-84 with 7:32 to play on an Ellington catch-and-shoot 3-pointer in transition off the Nuggets' 16th turnover.
The Heat started the fourth quarter on a 17-4 run after the Nuggets ended the third on a 14-4 run.
Ellington then drained another 3-pointer to lift the Heat to a 92-84 lead, as Whiteside and Dragic returned.
A 3-pointer by Danilo Gallinari then drew the Nuggets within 94-87, but Whiteside responded inside to move past the 20-point mark.
From there, a driving layup by James Johnson pushed the Heat's lead to 98-89, with Ellington's fourth 3-pointer of the fourth putting the Heat up 101-91.
With Waiters and Winslow not on the trip due to injuries, and with Richardson a late scratch due to an ankle injury sustained in Monday's loss to the Boston Celtics at AmericanAirlines Arena, Erik Spoelstra again spun his wheel of lineups, going without three of his perimeter mainstays.
This time the small-ball Heat turned to something bigger with the first five. Alongside Whiteside on the front line to open the game were Josh McRoberts and Luke Babbitt, with Dragic and Rodney McGruder opening in the backcourt.
The switch shuffled Derrick Williams, who had been starting at power forward, out of the mix, with the primary reserve minutes going to Tyler Johnson, James Johnson, Ellington and Willie Reed.
It was Tyler Johnson's first game wearing a mouthpiece, after he missed Monday's loss to the Celtics following oral surgery.
The remix also led to an increased role for Ellington, who made his season debut Monday after being sidelined since the preseason finale with a thigh bruise.
Sparked by a 12-0 run late in the third period, the Nuggets moved to a 78-71 lead late in the quarter and took an 80-75 lead into the fourth.
Whiteside was up to 19 points and 16 rebounds at that stage, but the Heat still found themselves outrebounded by seven at that stage.
The Heat moved to an 11-point lead in the second quarter and led 52-47 at halftime, with Whiteside up to 13 points and 13 rebounds by the intermission. There was initial concern when Whiteside was called for his initial foul 48 seconds into the game, but he then was not called for his second until 3:15 remained in the second quarter, finishing the first half with those two.
Babbitt settled in at small forward, with his three first-half 3-pointers at that stage tying his previous high for a game this season.
The Heat led 30-28 at the end of the first quarter, despite allowing Denver to shoot .522 from the field to that stage.
The Heat's three-game trip continues with its second stop Thursday against the Utah Jazz, before concluding Saturday against the Portland Trail Blazers. The trip is part of a stretch of 10 of 13 on the road.
