Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 138-135 loss to the Detroit Pistons (16-4) on Saturday night at Kaseya Center to fall to 2-1 on its four-game homestand. The Heat (13-7), which winning streak was snapped at six games, closes the homestand on Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers:
The Heat and Pistons have been two of the Eastern Conference’s best teams through the first month-plus of the season. Despite a big late-game push by the Heat, the Pistons were the better team on Saturday.
The Pistons entered with the NBA’s second-best record and the top record in the East. The Heat entered with the East’s third-best record.
There were six lead changed and six ties in the first half, but the Pistons took control of the game by closing the first quarter on a 13-0 run to enter the second quarter with a 13-point advantage. Detroit led by as many as 15 points in the first half before entering halftime ahead 71-59.
Even with the Pistons playing on the second night of a back-to-back set after falling to the Orlando Magic in Detroit on Friday, they were able to build on their lead in the second half and ultimately held on for the victory.
The Pistons, playing without starting center Jalen Duren, pulled ahead by as many as 22 points in the second half.
The Heat, which was coming off a two-day break, trailed by double digits for most of the second half and found itself in a 20-point hole with 6:01 left in the fourth quarter.
But the Heat went on an improbable 19-5 run down the stretch to cut the deficit to just five with 1:25 to play.
Heat guard Norman Powell was then fouled while shooting a three-pointer, and he went on to make all three free throws to pull within two points with 55.5 seconds remaining.
However, Daniss Jenkins was able to get to the rim for a layup to put the Pistons back ahead by four points with 40.5 seconds remaining.
The Heat kept pushing, though, as Bam Adebayo scored on a put-back to again cut the deficit to two with 34.2 seconds left.
The Pistons again answered, with Cade Cunningham making a clutch six-foor floater to make it a two-possession game and extend the lead to four with 20.2 seconds to play.
The Heat didn’t have a response this time. Powell’s layup attempt was blocked by Cunningham and the Pistons regained possession with 15.6 seconds left.
After Tyler Herro made two free throws to pull the Heat within three points with 6.5 seconds remaining, Miami was forced to foul Jenkins to preserve the clock. But Jenkins made both free throws to put the Pistons ahead by five points and seal the win.
The Heat closed the game on a 28-11 run, but it wasn’t enough to dig itself out of the big hole it found itself in midway through the fourth quarter.
Andrew Wiggins led the Heat with a game-high 31 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field, 2-of-4 shooting on threes and 9-of-9 shooting from the foul line.
Powell added 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field, 3-of-6 shooting on threes and 7-of-8 shooting from the foul line for the Heat.
The Heat’s defense entered as one of the top-ranked units in the league. But the Pistons shredded the Heat’s defense on Saturday.
The Heat entered with the NBA’s second-best defensive rating (allowing 110.2 points per 100 possessions), but it didn’t look like an elite defense against the Pistons.
Detroit exploded for 138 points on 59.1 percent shooting from the field and 11-of-26 (42.3 percent) shooting from three-point range despite committing 22 turnovers. It’s the third-most points that Miami has allowed in a game this season.
The Heat also allowed a season-high 76 paint points on Saturday.
The duo of Cunningham (29 points) and Tobias Harris (26 points) combined for 55 points to lead the Pistons.
After leading the Heat in scoring in each of his first two games back from ankle surgery, it was a bit of a shooting struggle for Herro on Saturday.
In Herro’s third game back from offseason ankle surgery, he totaled 24 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the field. But he did shoot 6 of 11 on threes and 6 of 6 from the foul line.
This comes after Herro scored a team-high 24 points in his season debut in Monday’s win over the Dallas Mavericks and a team-high 29 points in Wednesday’s victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
But on Saturday, Herro started cold. He shot just 2 of 11 from the field and 2 of 6 on threes in the first half.
With Herro held out of training camp and the preseason and just returning to practice a few weeks ago after undergoing surgery on his left ankle in September, there’s expected to be some rust in his first few weeks back. Saturday was a sign of some of the rust Herro still needs to shake off.
With Jaime Jaquez Jr. missing his first game of the season, the Heat was missing its ultra-effective sixth man. But it opened an opportunity for Nikola Jovic to re-enter the mix.
Jaquez, who has established himself as one of the early favorites for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award, didn’t play Saturday because of a strained right groin. He has averaging 16.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 53% from the field in his first 19 appearances this season.
That’s a lot of bench production the Heat was missing on Saturday.
But Jaquez’s absence created an opening for Jovic to re-enter the Heat’s bench rotation after receiving his first DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) of the season last game in Wednesday’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Without Jaquez, the Heat used Jovic, Kel’el Ware, Pelle Larsson and Dru Smith off the bench on Saturday.
Jovic struggled in his minutes, though. He committed five turnovers in 10 minutes off the bench and posted a plus/minus if minus 15.
Along with missing Jaquez for the first time this season, the Heat was also without Myron Gardner (G League), Vlad Goldin (G League), Kasparas Jakucionis (G League) and Terry Rozier (not with team) on Saturday.
On the second night of a challenging back-to-back, the Pistons were missing Jalen Duren (left lower leg contusion), Isaac Jones (G League), Bobi Klintman (left ankle sprain), Caris LeVert (right knee soreness), Wendell Moore Jr. (G League), Marcus Sasser (right hip impingement) and Tolu Smith (G League) against the Heat.
In his first game back in Miami since leaving the Heat, Duncan Robinson helped the Pistons get the win.
Robinson, who spent the first seven seasons of his NBA career before leaving to join the Pistons this past offseason, recorded 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 3-of-9 shooting from three-point range, five rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block in 32 minutes in his starting role for Detroit.
The Heat celebrated Robinson’s return with a tribute video minutes before tipoff on Saturday, which was met by a loud ovation from the Miami crowd. While the Heat usually reserves tribute videos for former players who were named an NBA All-Star or won an NBA championship while with the organization, Robinson will get one because he’s the franchise’s all-time leader in three-point makes.
Robinson, 31, is also one of the Heat’s greatest undrafted success stories.
Robinson became the franchise leader for the most three-pointers made after beginning his college career at Division III Williams College before transferring to the University of Michigan and then initially signing a two-way contract with the Heat in 2018 as an undrafted free agent.
Robinson’s Heat career included two appearances in the NBA Finals and three appearances in the Eastern Conference finals, but he was never able to win an NBA championship in Miami.
“Duncan is such an uncommon story,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before Saturday’s game. ”I said it yesterday that I’ll always root for him because of how many things he’s had to overcome. So many parents of high school students or basketball players always ask me like, ‘How can my son take the path of Duncan Robinson?’ I’m like, well, you have to have an absolute superpower of grit and fortitude. Duncan has probably been told no and has had doors closed on him more often than he’s had yeses. And it just strengthens him, and I’ve always admired that about him.”
Robinson, who signed a three-year contract worth $48 million to join the Pistons this past summer, was greeted by former Heat teammates and coaches during pregame warmups on Saturday.
“It’s so improbable, what he’s done,” Spoelstra continued on Robinson. “All you have to do is look at his junior year stats when he was in high school. He didn’t even start. And then as a senior, he was a decent player for that league. But he had to take an uncommon path of going to prep school and then going to Division III, and then eventually going to Michigan as a sixth man. And then just grinding through some brutal player development sessions with [Heat assistant coach Chris Quinn] over the years, when he first joined us as a two-way player. But he’s one of the great all-time Miami Heat success stories. So we all are extremely happy for him. He does look strange in blue. It doesn’t look normal. But that’s the life in the NBA.”
The Heat helped facilitate Robinson’s move to Detroit by agreeing to a sign-and-trade transaction that brought three-point shooting forward Simone Fontecchio to Miami in July. Fontecchio is on a cheaper expiring contract that comes with an $8.3 million salary this upcoming season, creating some salary-cap flexibility for the Heat.
Fontecchio was a healthy scratch on Saturday.