MIAMI -- A year ago at this time, the Miami Heat couldnt lose. New England Patriots Shirts . These days, they cant win. And what at first looked like a mere rough stretch is now concerning to the Heat, who watched the Denver Nuggets come into their building and outscore them by 30 points over one stretch Friday night. Kenneth Faried scored 24 points, Darrell Arthur led a big effort by Denvers bench with 18, and the Nuggets beat the reeling Heat 111-107, sending the two-time defending NBA champions to their fifth loss in six games. "We always have one defining moment," Heat forward LeBron James said. "And this is it right here for us." The loss sent Miami three games behind Indiana in the race for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Evan Fournier scored 14, Ty Lawson had 13 and JJ Hickson added 11 for the Nuggets, who got 57 points from their bench and turned a 14-point deficit into a 16-point lead at one point before hanging on late. "We were able to withstand their runs, especially coming down the stretch," Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said after his team won for only the fifth time in its last 18 games. "We made the plays that we needed to make. Im proud of them. It was a complete team effort." Ray Allen scored 22 points for Miami. James scored 21 points, Dwyane Wade added 19, Mario Chalmers had 16 and Chris Andersen scored 14 for the Heat, who turned the ball over 20 times and shot 7 for 24 from 3-point range. "Obviously well be able to get out of it," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, whose team was on what became a 27-game winning streak at this time last season. "When? We dont know." Down by 16 early in the fourth, and still down by 12 after a four-point play by Denvers Wilson Chandler with 3:47 left, the Heat made it more than a little interesting down the stretch. Chalmers and Allen each hit 3-pointers in what became a 9-0 run, and Chalmers set up Bosh for an easy score that drew Miami within 104-101. But Denver held on, despite not getting another field goal after that four-point play. James missed a 3-pointer that would have gotten Miami within one with about 25 seconds remaining, Denver controlled the rebound, and fans started departing en masse at that point. James thought he forced a turnover with 16.7 seconds left, was called for a foul instead, and two free throws from Randy Foye sealed the outcome. "This is just something we have to deal with," Wade said. Faried called it the best win of Denvers season. "To come in here in Miami ... for all of us to come out and have fun and play hard and do what we need to do and take care of business, thats No. 1," Faried said. The Heat struggled from the 3-point line again, missing their first eight attempts. Chris Bosh was 2 for 10 through the first three quarters, James and Wade both had six field goals in the opening quarter and then combined for four the rest of the way, and some of Miamis turnovers could only be described as mindless. A third-quarter sequence went like this: Bosh tried throwing an ill-advised lob to James, then had the ball batted back to him on a deflection. Instead of grabbing it, Bosh tried to swat it toward Wade on the wing, the ball going out of bounds. Lawson made a short jumper on the ensuing Denver possession to stretch the Nuggets lead to 70-56, matching their biggest of the night to that point. Denvers lead was still 14 entering the fourth. "It was good for us to keep our rhythm going," Lawson said. Denver had only one starter finish the first half with more than four points. Nonetheless, the Nuggets were up 58-53 at the break, despite being down by as many as 12 in the opening quarter and facing a 38-24 deficit after James scored with 8:54 left in the half. From there, the half ended with Denver on a 34-15 run. The Nuggets bench played virtually the entire period and combined to score 36 points. Thats more than opposing reserves had scored against the Heat in the entirety of 38 games this season. NOTES: James filmed a public service announcement encouraging people to sign up for the new health care plan championed by President Barack Obama, who personally called to enlist the MVPs help. "Pretty cool," James said. ... Miami entered Friday 32-2 in games which it led by at least 14 points this season. ... James received the trophy commemorating his Eastern Conference player of the month award for February in a brief halftime ceremony. ... It was the 11th time Denvers bench topped the 50-point mark this season. New England Patriots Gear . Paul, MN (SportsNetwork. Custom New England Patriots Jerseys . The kind he has every so often. The kind he has when Dwyane Wade sits. James scored 43 points -- 25 in a bewildering first-quarter shooting display -- and Chris Bosh added 21, leading the Miami Heat to a 100-96 win Tuesday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who played their first game without injured All-Star guard Kyrie Irving.MANCHESTER, England -- Juan Mata is on the brink of becoming the most expensive player in Manchester Uniteds history after the Premier League champions announced Friday they have reached an agreement with Chelsea over the transfer of the Spain midfielder. United released a statement saying Mata will move for a club-record fee "subject to a medical and the agreement of personal terms." Although United didnt give any further details, the club this week made a bid of 37 million pounds ($61 million) for Mata, which would eclipse the 30.7 million pounds that United paid to sign striker Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham in 2008. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said Mata had requested to leave Stamford Bridge after losing his place in the London clubs starting lineup. "I asked him (Mata), Are you really happy to go?" Mourinho said. "He said, Yes, Im really happy to go. "We hope he does well," Mourinho added in a news conference. "We are convinced he is going to do well. If Man United pays their record for a player, its because they know exactly what they want from him. And they know exactly what he can give them." The 25-year-old Mata was Chelseas player of the year for the last two seasons but has been marginalized at the London club this campaign following the return of Mourinho as manager. He has largely been on the bench, with Mourinho preferring Eden Hazard, Willian and Oscar as his playmakers. "If he cannot be fully happy here because he is not playing 100 per cent like he was the last two years, if he has a big club that wants him -- even if its a rival club and in England -- the club decided, and I was on the clubs side for this feeling, that you cannot stop people to be happy," Mourinho said. United refused to negotiate with Chelsea in the off-season when Mourinho lodged two bids for Wayne Rooney, who was pushing for a transfer afteer losing his regular place in Uniteds team. New England Patriots Store. Mourinho said that hadnt been a factor in dealing with Mata. "Would Chelsea supporters be happy if we stop a fantastic person, that they all like, from being happy, if we say you only can go to Russia, China, to France or to Portugal, not England?" Mourinho asked. "To say now, You cannot go, Juan, to United because United refused in the summer to sell us Wayne Rooney, I dont think its fair to Juan. So if they decide not to sell (Rooney, its) their decision." United will hope the arrival of Mata, who is likely to be in Spains squad for the World Cup in Brazil, proves to be a turning point in its so-far lacklustre season under new manager David Moyes. The team is languishing in seventh place in the Premier League -- 14 points behind leader Arsenal -- and facing a fight to secure one of the four Champions League places. United exited the FA Cup at the first hurdle and the League Cup in the semifinals. The bright spot is still remaining in Champions League title contention going into the round of 16 against Olympiakos next month. Chelsea, meanwhile, has already found a replacement for Mata in Mohamed Salah after striking a deal with Swiss team Basel for the pacey Egypt winger. Salah still needs to agree personal terms and pass a medical with Chelsea. Mourinho laughed off criticism by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who said Thursday that Chelsea had timed the sale of Mata specifically to hurt its Premier League rivals. United has already played Chelsea twice -- most recently on Sunday -- but still has to play Manchester City and Wengers Arsenal in the run-in. "Wenger complaining is normal, because he always does. Its something that we know," Mourinho said. "We dont do the market, we dont do the rules." Two points separate Arsenal with third-place Chelsea with 16 games left. ' ' '