The Miami HEAT defeated the Detroit Pistons 97-96 Tuesday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Goran Dragić led the way for the HEAT with 28 points. Hassan Whiteside added 17 points for Miami, including the game winner.
1. Whiteside Wins It
Even though Whiteside did well offensively throughout the contest, you could tell that his heavily wrapped right hand was bothering him. Still, the big fella fought through it, adjusted and finished plays with both hands. Of course, none were as big as the tip-in he had in traffic to win the game for the HEAT.
In short, it was one heck of an ending to a very intense fourth quarter. In all, Whiteside grabbed nine rebounds (four offensive) to go along with his 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
2. Dragić Gets Back On Track
After struggling a bit with his shot over the past four games, Dragić flipped the script in a big way against Detroit. While the Dragon attacked the basket in the half court and also drew fouls on a couple 3-pointers, his sequences in transition were fantastic. Let’s take a look at one such instance early on in the third quarter.
With 8:13 left in the period, Dragić raced down court after Josh Richardson grabbed a defensive rebound. Once the Slovenian approached the left wing, he hit Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with the inside-out dribble, attacked the basket and finished the play plus the foul.
Of course, Dragić also came through with five points in the fourth and drew a charge on Stanley Jonson with 2:16 left in the game. The 30-year-old finished with four rebounds and four assists in addition to his team-high 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting.
3. J. Johnson Goes Off In The Fourth
While James Johnson played pretty well through the first three quarters and initiated offense as usual, he simply went off in the fourth. In fact, the forward tallied seven points in the final period and was instrumental in the victory. During the flurry, Johnson had this massive jam over Marcus Morris.
Later in the period, J. Johnson forced a jump ball with S. Johnson and helped Miami regain possession with 14.7 seconds left in the contest.
When it was all said and done, the Wake Forest product scored 16 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out two assists.
4. McGruder Shows Maximum Effort
To put it simply, Rodney McGruder kicked off the game with a 3-pointer and never looked back. In particular, the swingman ended the second quarter on a high note with six of the HEAT’s final ten points of the first half. Naturally, one of his best plays of the night came during that spurt.
With 44.4 seconds left in the second period, McGruder received the ball on the left wing and drove past S. Johnson, who closed out hard. From there, McGruder attacked the basket and hit the difficult shot over Drummond.
On the flip side of the ball, the Scavenger was up to his usual tricks. Late in the first quarter, he stole the ball from Tobias Harris, which led to a transition opportunity for Dragić. Then a little later in the second quarter, McGruder hit the deck and forced Drummond into a turnover after the center brought the ball down after grabbing an offensive rebound.
Although those plays were great, the rookie also grabbed a big offensive rebound with 1:14 remaining in the fourth quarter. In all, McGruder tallied 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Game Notes:
-With their five made 3-pointers, the HEAT set the franchise record for most threes in a single season (719).
-Dion Waiters (sprained left ankle), Justise Winslow (right shoulder surgery) and Josh McRoberts (left foot stress fracture) sat out.
Looking Ahead:
-The HEAT will wrap up their road trip Wednesday night in New York, as they face the Knicks at 7:30 PM. Miami will then return home to face New York again on Friday at 8:00 PM. Tickets for that game at AmericanAirlines Arena can be found here.