Heat-Pistons Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO
Posted Jan 25 2012 12:02AM

Even if Dwyane Wade remains out of Miami's lineup, a visit to Detroit still could help the Heat end their current struggles on the road.

With or without one of their three superstars, the Heat look to avoid a fourth straight loss away from home as they try for a sixth consecutive road victory over the Pistons on Wednesday night.

Wade (19.6 points, 5.4 assists per game) missed his fifth consecutive game Tuesday with a sprained right ankle, but is expected to be in Detroit for this contest. Whether he plays or not remains uncertain.

The ankle problem and a previous foot injury have sidelined Wade eight games this season. He scored 24 points each in a pair of road victories over Detroit last season.

Miami (12-5), which concluded a 4-1 homestand with a 92-85 win over Cleveland on Tuesday, looks to snap a three-game road skid that came after it won its first five away from home. With Wade in the lineup, the Heat suffered overtime losses at Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers before falling 117-104 at Denver on Jan. 13.

The Heat however, have a good chance to end that skid in Detroit, where they've held the Pistons to 85.6 points per contest during a five-game winning streak at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Miami has won four in a row and nine of 10 overall versus Detroit.

Chris Bosh totaled 40 points and 17 rebounds in two games at Detroit last season for the Heat. Bosh, who scored 35 on Tuesday, averaged 26.6 points on 49-of-82 shooting during Miami's five-game home stretch.

"Whenever I play and I don't hesitate, good things happen," said Bosh, who scored 17 fourth-quarter against the Cavaliers to match his highest-scoring game since coming to Miami last season.

LeBron James, held to 18 points against his former team Tuesday, was limited to 35 combined points in two meetings with the Pistons last season.

Detroit (4-14) snapped a five-game home losing streak with a 94-91 victory over Portland on Saturday, but took another step back with a 99-79 loss at Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City on Monday.

Without key injured contributors Ben Gordon (shoulder), Will Bynum (foot) and Charlie Villanueva (ankle), Detroit shot a season-low 34.1 percent while losing for the 11th time in 13 games.

"I just know we have a whole lot more to give and a whole lot more talent in that locker room to have performances like these," coach Lawrence Frank said. "We just can't accept it."

Rookie Brandon Knight scored 13 points while Rodney Stuckey and Greg Monroe added 12 apiece for the Pistons, who are last in the NBA in offense at 84.9 points per contest.

"The bottom line is this is who we are," Frank said. "We haven't been consistent, so that's where we're at right now. We're just going to have to work a whole lot harder and smarter and tougher together."

Stuckey appeared to have re-aggravated a nagging groin injury Monday, but could be back in the lineup for this contest. He was held to nine points in each of the Pistons' home defeats to Miami in 2010-11.

Monroe had 14 points and 12 rebounds in a 100-94 home loss to Miami on March 23 in the teams' most recent meeting.

James' late FTs give Heat 101-98 win over Pistons

By NOAH TRISTER
Posted Jan 25 2012 11:22PM

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) With the game on the line, LeBron James looked as calm as could be while shooting his free throws.

The Miami star made six in a row in the final 1:19, lifting the Heat to a 101-98 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. James finished with 32 points, and Miami recovered after blowing a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter.

"We've got to close out games," James said. "We know we're going to get the best shot from everybody. To be able to be down late in the game and then come back and win, it was good stuff for us."

The Heat trailed 98-95 after a 3-pointer by Detroit's Jonas Jerebko, but James made two free throws to cut the deficit to one with 1:19 left. After Damien Wilkins fumbled the ball out of bounds for the Pistons, James drove straight at Austin Daye, drawing another foul and putting Miami up 99-98.

"I've just got to go up and make them," James said. "When you get the opportunity, you go up and make them, and then you live with the results."

James made two more with 9.4 seconds remaining after Detroit's Greg Monroe missed inside. Daye traveled in the final seconds while trying to get a 3-point attempt off.

Chris Bosh hit his first seven shots and finished with 27 points for Miami - which was without Dwyane Wade, who sat out because of a right ankle injury.

Daye scored a career-high 28 points for the Pistons. He'd scored only 45 points in 13 games before Wednesday.

James went 13 of 14 from the free throw line after entering the game shooting 73 percent. He had a 20-for-37 stretch from the line over three games earlier this month, including an ugly 9-for-17 effort against the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Pistons trailed 90-80 in the fourth quarter before rallying with a 12-0 run. They took the lead when rookie Brandon Knight made a midrange shot after James nearly intercepted a crosscourt pass to him.

"I thought our guys showed great fight, spirit and resolve," Detroit coach Lawrence Frank said. "You have to look at the fight for the whole game. If we can establish this as part of our DNA, we'll put ourselves in position to win a lot of games, but it can't be just Miami."

Bosh answered with five straight points to put the Heat up 95-92, but Monroe scored inside while being fouled and his free throw tied the game. After a miss by Shane Battier, Jerebko made an open 3-pointer from near the top of the key to give Detroit a 98-95 advantage.

After a Miami timeout, Daye poked the ball away from James, and Knight came up with it and was fouled. But he missed both free throws, and Detroit wouldn't score again.

Wade missed his sixth consecutive game. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra says he is still day-to-day.

Detroit's Tayshaun Prince missed the game because of a family matter, and guard Ben Gordon was out with a sore shoulder.

Bosh handled most of the scoring early, going 6 for 6 in the first quarter with a 3-pointer.

At one point, Miami led 14-9 and Bosh had 13 points. He hurt the Pistons from the perimeter and inside, and the Heat led 24-17 after the first.

Daye did his best to respond for Detroit, scoring 18 points in the second quarter. Detroit moved the ball well on offense, and Daye made four 3-pointers in the period.

"My teammates deserve a lot of the credit. We were doing a great job of moving the ball and drawing guys out of position, and that meant I got a lot of open shots," Daye said.

Miami led by as many as 11 in the second but had to settle for a 56-50 halftime lead after Daye's 12-footer at the buzzer.

At the end of the third quarter, it was James' turn to make a last-second shot. His 3-pointer gave Miami an 80-74 lead.

The Heat snapped a three-game skid on the road.

"We're getting there," Battier said. "We haven't played well the last week and a half. We get a big boost to our team with Dwyane coming back off injury. Hopefully we can find our stride."

NOTES: Daye's previous career high was 22 points. ... Michigan QB Denard Robinson was at the game and came onto the court to throw a football into various sections of the crowd during a break in the action in the first half. Then Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford did the same from his seat near the court.

Notebook: Heat 101, Pistons 98

By Dana Gauruder, for NBA.com
Posted Wednesday January 25, 2012 11:38PM

THE FACTS: Forward LeBron James scored 32 points, including six free throws in the last 1:19, as the Miami Heat survived a scare against the struggling Detroit Pistons, 101-98, at The Palace Wednesday night.

Forward Chris Bosh had 27 points as Miami won for the fifth time in six games. Reserve forward Austin Daye scored a career-high 28 points and center Greg Monroe contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Pistons, who have lost 12 of their last 14 games.

QUOTABLE: "What I've found out as a member of the Miami Heat is teams get very excited to play us, especially on the road. The crowds are pretty electric and a lot of guys make a lot of shots against us. Austin Daye got it rolling tonight and Monroe played a tough game. We've come to expect guys playing well against us because the home crowd is much more electric."
-- Miami forward/guard Shane Battier on the Pistons' unexpectedly strong challenge.

THE STAT: 16. James extended his personal winning streak over the Pistons to 16 games, including the postseason, with the Heat's victory Wednesday. When James played for Cleveland, the Cavs defeated the Pistons in their last three regular-season meetings during the 2008-09 season, then swept Detroit 4-0 in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Cavs also enjoyed a four-game, regular-season sweep in James' final season there in 2009-2010. The Heat went 4-0 against the Pistons last season. James' most recent loss to Detroit was Nov. 19. 2008 at The Palace when the Pistons beat Cleveland, 96-89.

TURNING POINT: After forward Jonas Jerebko made a 3-pointer to give the Pistons a 98-95 lead with 1:33 remaining, their inexperience in close games rendered them punchless the rest of the way. Rookie guard Brandon Knight missed two free throws, Damien Wilkins lost a Jerebko pass out of bounds and Daye shot an airball on a 3-point try. Knight also missed a shot in the lane before Bosh contested a Monroe baseline attempt with the Pistons still only down one. Daye then traveled on Detroit's final possession.

QUOTABLE II: "We came up a couple of plays short but we lost on our terms tonight."
-- Pistons coach Lawrence Frank

HOT: Daye had scored 45 points and made just one 3-pointer in 158 minutes entering the game. He also missed his first two shot attempts Wednesday. Suddenly in the second quarter, the third-year forward erupted for 18 points and made four 3-point shots. He wound up shooting 10 of 18 from the field while adding six rebounds and three assists. Daye's previous career high was 22 points against Minnesota on March 2, 2011.

NOT: The Heat's perimeter defenders had problems with both Daye and Knight (17 points, five assists). Miami's frontcourt players did a poor job rebounding, as Joel Anthony, Eddy Curry and Udonis Haslem combined for just four as the Pistons controlled the boards, 43-26.

GOOD MOVE: Monroe shot 1-of-4 in the first quarter, including two blown layups. Though he was coming off a 3-of-14 outing in Oklahoma City, Monroe realized he couldn't stop looking for his shot if his team had any chance of winning. He went 7-of- 10 from the field the rest of the game while reaching the 20-point mark for the first time in seven games.

BAD MOVE: Miami coach Erik Spoelstra decided to give Curry more minutes ahead of Dexter Pittman as the backup center for the next few games. Curry gave his team nothing but a turnover and a blown dunk.

NOTABLE: Dwyane Wade missed his sixth consecutive game with a sprained left ankle, though Battier expects Wade to return against New York Friday. "We get our explosiveness back with Dwyane coming back Friday," he said. "Hopefully, we can get back to getting up and down the floor a little more." ... Detroit forward Tayshaun Prince missed the game for personal reasons. Guards Ben Gordon (shoulder) and Will Bynum (foot) were also out of action. ... Bosh scored 13 of his team's first 14 points. ... Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and University of Michigan Denard Robinson were among the crowd of 18,058.

UP NEXT: For the Heat, Friday vs. New York, Sunday vs. Chicago, Monday vs. New Orleans. For the Pistons, Friday vs. Atlanta, Saturday @ Philadelphia, Monday @ Milwaukee.

• Heat: Gladness, Wade
• Pistons: Villanueva

• Heat: --
• Pistons: Frank

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, MI
• Officials: #27 Dick Bavetta, #47 Bennie Adams, #34 Kevin Cutler
• Attendance: 18058
• Duration: 2:29