The streaky Miami Heat snapped their four-game losing streak Friday evening, securing a 108-95 win over the lowly Detroit Pistons inside Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich.
Bam Adebayo, who canned a 3-pointer in his second straight game for the first time in his career, led Miami with 22 points, nine rebounds, two steals and three blocks on 10-of-14 shooting. Caleb Martin was gigantic off its bench once again, posting 18 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals on 8-of-14 shooting.
Terry Rozier had 18 points and five rebounds, applying consistent rim pressure that generated 11 attempts at the charity stripe (eight makes). Jimmy Butler had 14 points while Duncan Robinson had 16 points on 4-of-12 from deep, including three straight 3s in the 3rd quarter that gave Miami an 18-point lead–its largest of the night.
Miami did not have an efficient shooting night from beyond the arc, shooting just 7-of-34 from 3-point range. But it limited Detroit to just 42.9 percent shooting and 26.3 percent from 3-point range, forcing 17 turnovers–plus 14 live-ball turnovers, tying a season high–that resulted in 33 Heat points.
Detroit’s Simone Fontecchio had a game-high 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting and 5-of-8 from distance; Jalen Duren had 15 points and 17 rebounds while Jaden Ivey had 14 points and dished out nine dimes.
Cade Cunningham was quiet, with the Heat extending pressure and throwing myriad doubles his way. He finished with just 11 points on 5-of-15 shooting, though he was still able to tally nine assists; Evan Fournier had 12 points and Isaiah Stewart had 10 points.
The Heat were carried by a big second half, outscoring Detroit by 11 (52-41) after it led by just two at the break. Due to their sizable advantage, Adebayo did not play in the fourth quarter for the first time all season in a full game he played; it led to Thomas Bryant’s best game of the season, scoring 11 points with five rebounds.
Friday’s win not only snapped the Heat’s dire losing streak, but prevented the Pistons’ first three-game win streak in two seasons.
The two squads will play again on Sunday, their final matchup of 2023-24. Miami’s taken the first three, but can it earn the season sweep?
Let us know your thoughts below!
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3pm game today wiill manila be there for his end of the quarter posts
Lol that’s 3am here!
League imo should change the play-in “requirements”. If Nos. 7 & 8 teams are 3 games ahead of 9 & 10 after regular season they should automatically be in the playoffs thus no more play in games. Or maybe 5 games ahead. But I guess those extra play in games will generate $$$ for the league.
Allows more teams to feel they have “a shot” at the playoffs and the championship. After all, Miami went from winning final play-in playoff spot after losing first play-in game and going to finals. Games mean more for teams fighting for #9 & #10 spots and for non-playoff teams that have a chance to knock off teams fighting for #9 & #10 spots. Yes, bottom line it generates more $$$ for the league and more pipe dreams for crappy teams.
20 teams gettin in to many .but all sports is putting more teams in playoffs taking away from importance of reg season.of course its about the almighty $$.and fans not losing interest in their mediocre play in teams.heck the marlins have won their2 champs as wild card teams.
warriors really good they would beat us easily in a playoff series
When you are #16 and playing like dogshit, there are a bunch of teams that would do that.
kumingas as good as bam.green would shut jim down.u still got steph klay wiggins paul.problem with gsw similar to us no big
Kuminga as good as Bam? What you smokin heat? Got any more?
https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4433247/jonathan-kuminga
https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4066261/bam-adebayo
how much kuminga u watched,same player as bam.hes just starting his career.projecting him future all star
Kumingas isn’t as good as bam, you lost your hhh credibility for that smh lol
hes just starting disagree projecrting in a year or 2
It looks like Herro will be out for a longer time. Love also not close to return.
It looks like that what we saw last night is what we have.
Not enough for Denver for sure.
anybody in east is beatable by us.of course any team in top 8 could beat us no big 3 teams in the east.a healthy knicks team could win the east.two best teams i see are suns and of course denver.gl to clips with playoff james and pg.lol.
Uh…ever heard of the Boston Celtics?
brown and tatum in playoffs not a believer ask victor.think when healthy knicks are better than cs
Agree 100% with you…..they wilt under pressure. One or two of them seem to have self-doubt and underperform. I have seen glimpses of that this season, even as the #1 seed in the East. Their role players seem to be the x-factor when they play against the Heat. I guess it is a team game and not just playing against Tatum or Brown but against the team.
jalen brown will have more bad games then good games in playoffs.tatum will have at least 1 or 2 bad games they are not clutch.holidays a baller and porzingis prob will be hurt.not scared of the celts at all.love to see them in playoffs
Experience breeds confidence. With Porzingis and Holiday, his is not last year’s Boston team.
just imagine if riley could have secured those players w/o giving up a whole lot smart williams brogdon.
Porzingis is always out when matters.
It’s fun to watch Spo tinker with rotations and lineups.
Patty M. Hasn’t shot like he did his first game, but I wonder if the theory is that second units defense will play up if other teams are starting from the baseline. The defense can get the matchups it wants initially, etc etc.
When Love comes back and Herro comes back Miami could always have 2 40% shooters from 3 on the court. Either with Rozier and Bam, or with Jimmy and Jaime.
It’s a fun roster if everyone plays to their level.
With Caleb 42% and Duncan 45% in last season play off, that hopefully should give the undersized Heat some fire power if they can replicate their acts.
Any news on Tyler and KLove’s return?
Funny to watch the vets audition for playoff minutes late in the season like rookies auditioning for regular season minutes early in the season. I’m still not sold on Rozier. Bryant looks like a serviceable backup Center if Love doesn’t come back. Mills and Wright both looks like trash. Caleb looks like he’s finding his groove while Jamie hits the rookie wall. Bam is playing like an all-star. This team is really missing J-Rich and Herro.
Last but not least, Jimmy Butler is really laying low for the 3rd regular season in 5 years. He’s come through as “playoff Jimmy” for 3 out of 4 years, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. But at this point, he better come through as “playoff Jimmy”. Because regular season Jimmy has been worse than regular season Duncan Robinson this year
Teams are defending Jimmy with 2 bigs now, he has to re-invent himself somehow. I see him sending out passes to our shooters on the perimeter which is a good option if they knock them down consistently.
Yep noticed that also..teams are learning how to defend Jimmy and might do it come playoffs. So Heat shooters better be ready coz they suck lately as a team.
Definitely, teams will do it come play off. The remaining games will be opportunities for Jimmy and Spo to figure out something hopefully.
bs jimmy not same player like lebron or kd dont get doubled. father time got james
I’m not sure what you’re looking for in Rozier. He didn’t come in as a superstar, just as a solid upgrade over an aging Lowry. He had another 18 tonight even though he didn’t shoot well. He was very aggressive to the basket. He had one corkscrew finish at the rim that was pure poetry.
How could Delon be trash? He hasn’t played. Maybe you meant Jovic? Admittedly, I’m not as down on him as many here are. He does a couple of good and bad things each game but, gee whiz, he’s only 20.
Bryant looked good tonight and deserves more minutes.
who the f is mills.wright never plays.maybe your thinking of some blazers.terry mills think he retired though
Rozier is an upgrade from Lowry. He’s still learning being a 3rd, 4th option. One good game for Bryant needs some more to be ready for playoffs. Jimmy, well he’s Jimmy lol
Start Caleb and bring Jovic off the bench. Use Wright and Highsmith with second unit and to press/dog guards (full court) in third and fourth quarters. Continue using Bryant off the bench until Love returns. Looks like Jaime has hit a bit of a rookie wall. Hope he comes back around soon.
One game at a time. Hopefully, the team gets Herro, Love and their Mojo back by the end of the regular season in time for the playoffs.
GO HEAT!!!
A sigh-of-relief-win. One more vs these pesky pistons. The defense during the losing streak was good to very good imo and I think the problem is making shots. A dozen plus games to go
Kudos Rozier! Best defensive game in Heat uniform IMHO.
yes he looked like oladipo tonight beating his man to the spot
Also his hands were very active, stripping,steals etc.