Gimpy Heat roll past reeling Pistons

By Dana Gauruder, for NBA.com
Posted Friday January 29, 2010 11:59PM

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (NBA.com exclusive) -- Dwayne Wade only played half the game. Michael Beasley didn't play at all.

Ordinarily, that would spell big trouble for the Miami Heat. Miami instead received extraordinary performances from its unheralded players while the listless Detroit Pistons showed no resistance.

Bothered by a sore back, Wade only played the first and third quarters. He still scored a game-high 22 points while the Heat bench contributed 47 in a 92-65 thumping of the Pistons, who lost their fourth straight.

"It was one of our best team efforts of the year," Wade said.

"Everybody came into the game and did something different. That is what we needed, especially being on the road and on a back-to-back. We just need to keep fighting."

Wade is one of many Heat rotation players fighting through an injury.

Beasley, the team's second-leading scorer, sat out for the first time this season with a hyperextended right knee.

Jermaine O'Neal aggravated his hyperentended left knee in the first minute but came back to contribute 10 points and 11 rebounds. Udonis Haslem led the reserves with 16 points and eight rebounds despite a sore back while Mario Chalmers played 11 minutes with a sprained thumb.

"Defensively, we were very active," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

"We have a lot of wounded warriors, so we had to keep it simple. ... It didn't seem like we were making a real effort to try to come up with shots. They were coming up pretty easy from making the extra pass."

The Pistons look so disoriented, they're having difficulty doing anything. They barely avoided the franchise shot-clock low of 64 points with a late surge.

Even the return of Ben Gordon failed to provide a boost. Gordon had 10 points in 13 minutes after missing eight games with a right groin strain. The Pistons have dropped 15 games below .500 after 45 games, their worst record at this point since they were 10-35 in 1993-94.

"After a performance like this, there's just a loss of words," Gordon said. "I don't know why we're not able to go out there and at least give 100 percent effort, regardless of whatever else happens. It's definitely frustrating."

Rebounding has been one area where the Pistons have excelled - they led the league in that category coming in the game - but got pounded on the boards, 52-25. That was both an opponent high and team low in each category.

"When we play with a lack of energy like we did tonight," Pistons coach John Kuester said, "it doesn't matter what you do offensively or defensively. You've got to play every game with high energy."

Wade was resting on the bench when the Heat took control. Miami scored

12 unanswered points to make it 47-31. Rafer Alston had a basket and three assists during that stretch, which O'Neal jump-started with two baskets.

The Heat shot 47.9 percent and had 22 second-chance points without Beasley's usual 16-point contributions. Miami was even more efficient at the other end. The Pistons were held 25 combined points in the second and third quarters.

"That was the main focus of the pregame talk and shootaround today,"

Spoelstra said. "It had to be one of our best defensive efforts of the year, period. I didn't want our focus to be trying to make up those points for our second-leading scorer and guys trying to step up and be the hero offensively."

Wade was glad he didn't have to play the fourth-quarter hero for a change. He didn't even have to leave the bench.

"This is a team that had lost three in a row and we needed to come out early and jump on them," he said. "I think that we did a good job early of setting the tone."

The Pistons opened their season-long six-game homestand by beating Boston but they've played progressively worse since that upset. Their backcourt of Rodney Stuckey and Richard Hamilton shot a combined 5-for-20 and scored 12 points. Stuckey also made twice as many turnovers (4) as assists (2).

"A lot of guys missed so many games, we're still working on our chemistry," Hamilton said. "There is no way we score (so few) points as we did with the kind of guys that we have offensively on this team."

• Heat: Beasley, Diawara
• Pistons: Bynum, Summers

• Heat: --
• Pistons: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, MI
• Officials: #24 Mike Callahan, #67 John Goble, #68 Marat Kogut
• Attendance: 20669
• Duration: 2:9