The Miami HEAT fell to the Detroit Pistons 108-91 Tuesday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Chris Bosh led the way for the HEAT with 34 points.
Impact Performance of the Night: Despite the loss, Chris Bosh had a solid performance on Tuesday night. After struggling a bit in the first half, Bosh came out guns blazing in the third quarter. Bosh hit tough jumper after tough jumper and scored 21 of his 34 points on 9-of-9 shooting in the third. While it wasn’t enough in the end, it was good to see Bosh find the range often against Detroit. Hopefully he can carry that over in the two remaining games on this road trip.
The Deciding Run: The Pistons went on a huge run to close the first quarter that got them going in the right direction. However, Miami responded with a 16-4 run to cut the Pistons’ lead to 37-28 with 7:05 left in the second quarter thanks to improved defense. The HEAT started to give Detroit a taste of its own medicine by getting out in transition. As a result, Chris Andersen scored nine points in the second quarter alone. Unfortunately, Detroit would stay in control despite Miami’s run.
Play of the Game: With 3:14 to go in the second quarter, Hassan Whiteside fought hard with Andre Drummond for an offensive rebound. Once Whiteside corralled it, he took it inside aggressively and threw it down in traffic to cut the Pistons’ lead to 45-37.
Another nice play came with 6:49 left in the first quarter when Greg Monroe worked in the post against Luol Deng. From there, Hassan Whiteside slid across the lane and spiked Monroe’s shot attempt to save two points. It was one of two Whiteside blocks on Monroe in the first quarter.
Lastly, with about seven and a half minutes to go in the second quarter, Norris Cole drove in the lane and drew a crowd of defenders. He then flipped up a nice lob for Chris Andersen, who finished the alley-oop to cut Detroit’s lead to 37-26.
Efficiency Rating: Offensive Efficiency: 105.7; Defensive Efficiency: 120.1
Trend to Watch: Luol Deng made his return to the starting lineup against the Pistons and had a pretty good outing. When the HEAT needed something on the offensive end in the first half outside of Bosh, Deng barreled to the rim and got to the line. Deng did most of his damage in the post and also created well for his teammates. It was his first game back since injuring his calf, so perhaps moving forward Deng will knock down some more mid-range jumpers like we’re accustomed to seeing. In all, Deng scored 10 points, grabbed five boards and dished out three assists against Detroit.
The Takeaway: Even though the HEAT fell short, they kept at it and fought hard throughout the game. Bosh did all he could in the third quarter and Hassan Whiteside came up big on the defensive end with five blocked shots. The Pistons got out in transition early on and built off that. From there, they knocked down tough shots the rest of the way. Miami made a push in the end with an 11-3 run behind the hot shooting of Danny Granger, but it just wasn’t in the cards. Up next for the HEAT are the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.
Notes: Shawne Williams (hip) sat out, but Luol Deng returned to the starting lineup.
Game Highlights: