Five takeaways from the Heat’s impressive 118-112 win at Detroit:
▪ The Heat nearly blew a 22-point third quarter lead but survived for its fourth win in a row.
After surging ahead 78-56 midway through the third quarter, the Pistons pulled to within 98-89 with just under 10 minutes.
Miami settled itself and led 114-103 with two minutes left before a 13-2 Pistons run pulled the Pistons to within 114-112.
But Jaime Jaquez Jr. responded with the biggest basket of the night, a turnaround jumper with 28 seconds left to push the lead back to four. After a Pistons timeout, Davion Mitchell stole the inbounds pass, and two free throws from Norman Powell sealed it.
Powell was brilliant for three quarters, scoring 19 in the first half and 15 in the third quarter, before missing his only two shots a two-point fourth quarter. He finished with 36 points, shooting 12 for 23 and 7 of 14 on threes and extending his consecutive free throw streak to 27 in a row.
Jaquez Jr. injected energy and offense with 19 points on 9 for 13 shooting.
Davion Mitchell was a catalyst in a decisive third quarter, hitting two threes during that 15-0 run that pushed Miami’s lead to 78-56 midway through the third. He had 8 points and 11 assists and that big steal late.
Wiggins scored 7 of his 17 in the fourth.
Miami overcame a big deficit at the free throw line. Detroit took 31 free throws and made 27/ The Heat attempted 20 and made 20.
The Heat played without Tyler Herro (toe) and Pelle Larsson (ankle), while the Pistons were without starting small forward Tobias Harris.
▪ The Heat played swarming defense against a top-1o defensive team. And for three quarters, Miami kept its offense rolling against a top-five defensive team.
Miami forced 20 Pistons turnovers - including three by Dru Smith - and held the Pistons to 35 percent three-point shooting (9 for 26).
On the other end, Miami navigated a defense entered second in the league in defensive rating (permitting 110.7 points per 100 possessions) and fifth in points permitted per game (112.7).
But Miami - for much of three quarters - was still able to maintain the brisk pace and offensive rhythm that it regained a week ago, following a slower, mostly unproductive stretch of eight losses in nine games.
After mustering just 91 points in a 21-point loss to Toronto on Dec. 23, the Heat has now scored 126, 142 and 147 and 118 in its past four games.
And the Heat did it even though Detroit’s size and defensive activity created problems at times. The Pistons blocked nine shots and forced 17 Heat turnovers.
But Miami overcame it with timely shots and crisp ball movement and getting out in transition. Miami had 18 fast break points and made 14 threes.
▪ Both teams started bigger lineups, and Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware dominated Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart on the boards.
Adebayo finished with 14 boards (five above his season average) and Ware had 13, compared with four for Stewart and five for Duren, who played just 18 minutes before leaving in the third quarter with a sprained right ankle.
Ware shot only 1 for 6 - including 0 for 4 on threes - and finished with just four points. But his rebounds and two blocks made a difference.
Adebayo also was off with his shot (5 for 14), but his 13 points were enough on Thursday.
▪ Jaquez’s offense remained in overdrive and the bench was again very good.
Jaquez scored 10 in the first half, on 6 for 8 shooting, en route to scoring at least 19 points for the sixth consecutive game.
Just as importantly, he remains a pace-pushing energizer off Miami’s bench.
He entered shooting 42 for his last 71.
He shot 8 for 12 from the field and chipped in five assists and two steals.
▪ This was arguably Miami’s most impressive win of the season, at least alongside two victories against the Knicks earlier this season.
The Pistons entered 25-8 and are now enjoying the fruits of having four top-five picks in the past five drafts.
The Heat has only one top 10 pick on the roster (former No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins), the Pistons have four high lottery picks - Cade Cunningham (first overall in 2021), Jaden Ivey (fifth overall in 2022), Ausar Thompson (fifth overall in 2023) and Ron Holland (fifth overall in 2024).
“That’s a physical team,” Mitchell said. “They’re a really good team, young team. I mean, you see them coming up. Honestly, obviously, they wasn’t good a couple years ago. But now they kept with the same team, and they came with the same grind, and now they’re just better players
Over the past 20 years, Miami has 126 playoff wins compared to 32 for Detroit.