In their first game back after their five-game west coast road trip, the Pistons couldn’t defend their home court as Norman Powell and the Miami Heat brought their physical brand of basketball to Detroit. Even with Cade’s 31-point near triple double, it wouldn’t be enough as Miami would defeat Detroit 118-112.
Both Tobias Harris (left hip) and Caris LeVert (left knee) would miss tonight’s game due to injury, and Isaiah Stewart started in place of Tobias. Detroit started strong, but a 14-0 Miami run near the end of the first quarter would see the Heat take the lead early.
Detroit clawed back in the second quarter behind the defensive effort of Isaiah Stewart who tied his career-high in blocks, but a Jalen Duren rolled ankle before the end of the half made an already thin big-man room even thinner as Paul Reed would have to finish the game for JD.
Marcus Sasser and Paul Reed gave the team good minutes with injuries to the players in front of them in the rotation, and Sass particularly had another strong game. He played 24 minutes and was second in the team in scoring with 18 points to go along with four made three-pointers. After Sasser, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren both had 12 points while Javonte Green added 11.
Cade led the way with 31 points, eight rebounds, 11 assists, two steals, and two blocks. He only made six of his 16 shots, but he shot a whopping 18 free throws and only missed one of them. It was another game for Cade with high turnovers (7), but another that also showed the need for another offensive threat for him to share the court with.
Detroit struggled to guard Norman Powell as he led all Heat players with 36 points and was a blazing hot 7-for-14 from beyond the arc. Every time he pulled up for another three-pointer, it felt like it was going in.
The injury list is beginning to pile up again now that Jalen Duren has joined Tobias Harris and Caris LeVert. We’ll see if any of the three can get healthy before Detroit travels to Cleveland for a Sunday matinee at 3PM EST.
See More:
* [Detroit Pistons Game Day](/detroit-pistons-game-day)
* [Pistons Scores](/pistons-scores-results)