The Miami Heat rallied in a close game to beat the Detroit Pistons 118-112, extending their winning streak to four games on Thursday evening.
Heat star Norman Powell dropped 36 points, and Bam Adebayo with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
On the other hand, Pistons’ Cade Cunningham had 31 points, 11 assists, and eight rebounds, and Marcus Sasser with 18.
The Pistons trailed by 22 in the second half and were still down 114-103 with two minutes left, but scored six straight points to make it a five-point game.
Powell missed, and Javonte Green hit a three-pointer to get the Pistons within two with 46.4 seconds to play.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. hit a short jumper to make it a two-possession game, and Ausar Thompson’s turnover forced the Pistons to start fouling.
Powell hit a pair of free throws on his first points of the fourth quarter to clinch it.
Heat Jaquez scored 19, while Andrew Wiggins added 17.
The Pistons can usually overcome their struggles with outside shooting by dominating the offensive glass, but that did not happen in the first half.
Miami pulled down 22 of 24 defensive rebound chances and held Detroit to 20% (2 for 10) on three pointers.
They opened the third quarter with a 15-2 run to take a 22-point lead, while Detroit missed its first seven shots and turned the ball over twice.
The Pistons’ reserves cut the deficit to 94-81 at the end of the quarter, led by six points and five rebounds from Paul Reed.
Mami will host the Timberwolves and look forward to extending their win streak on Saturday, while the Pistons will visit the Cavs on Sunday.
