Denver hopes to rebound from its first loss of the season Saturday when they visit an Atlanta team returning from a four-game road trip.
The Nuggets fell to 2-1 on their own six-game road swing Friday in South Beach when Dwyane Wade led five Heat players in double-figures with 22 points, as Miami earned a 96-88 win over Denver.
Carmelo Anthony led all scorers with 30 points and Arron Afflalo donated 18 in a reserve role for the Nuggets, who suffered their first setback of the season after winning five in a row.
Denver was bidding for its first 6-0 start since the 1985-86 campaign and was in shouting distance of the franchise's best start ever, an 8-0 mark. Rookie Ty Lawson and Nene each went for 11 points.
"Sometimes we're going to play good and sometimes we won't," Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups said. "You can't be on an emotional roller coaster whether you play good or bad."
The loss means Nuggets coach George Karl remains in search of his 939th career coaching win, which would move him past the legendary Red Auerbach into eighth place on the all-time NBA list.
On the injury front for Denver, power forward Kenyon Martin left Fridays game in the second quarter with a leg injury and will likely miss a week or two of action. The Nuggets are also toiling without high-scoring guard J.R. Smith, who will serve the final game of his suspension Saturday, stemming from a guilty plea for a reckless driving accident that killed a friend of his in 2007.
The Hawks, meanwhile, finished their trek on a sour note Friday in Charlotte when Raja Bell went 5-for-6 from three-point range and scored 24 points to lead the Bobcats in a 103-83 rout of Atlanta.
Jamal Crawford, Josh Smith and Joe Johnson each scored 13 points for the Hawks, who saw a two-game winning streak halted and finished 2-2 on the road trip. Al Horford and Maurice Evans chipped in 10 points each.
The Hawks have dominated Denver in Atlanta recently, winning two straight 17 of their last 19 as the host in the series.
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