Stuck in a dark series of eight losses in nine games recently, the Heat have come back to life for three games and have just scored a fourth success in a row after dominating the best team in the East, on their home court!
Despite waking up late, Detroit conceded its 9th defeat of the season by suffering from the aggressive defense, the speed of execution in attack and the skill of the Floridians practically the entire match. In terms of external skill, Miami mainly relied on Norman Powell, author of 36 points at 7/14 in the exercise.
The cocktail in any case allowed Erik Spoelstra’s men to quickly take the lead, thanks to a 14-2 at the end of the first quarter (22-31). Dru Smith, Jaime Jaquez Jr and Bam Adebayo were able to take over from Norman Powell who gradually warmed up, like the end of the first half, marked by three 3-point baskets, the last of which 0.9 seconds before the break buzzer (54-63).
Sasser has something
The matter seemed settled in the middle of the third quarter after a slap dunk from Bam Adebayo, two 3-point baskets in quick succession from Davion Mitchell enhanced with a new hot shot from the Powell-Wiggins pair to bring the score to 82-60 in favor of Miami. Still relegated 22 lengths 3 minutes from the end of the period (67-89), the Pistons finally came out of their hole, mainly thanks to… Marcus Sasser!
The guard planted four 3-point baskets to bring his team back to an honorable gap, before seeing Javonte Green twice then Cade Cunningham, also at 3-points, suddenly restart the last minutes of the match (104-114). The bad choices of a Heat under pressure on one side and Ausar Thompson’s dunk followed by Davonte Green’s 3-pointer then offered Detroit the opportunity to dream of a crazy “comeback” (112-114).
Except that a fadeaway from Jaime Jaquez Jr. at mid-distance and a bad throw-in from Ausar Thompson put Miami back in a strong position to allow the Floridians to win 118-112, not without being very scared.
WHAT TO REMEMBER
– Norman Powell departs in 2026. The Pistons didn’t find a solution to stop him, so he gave it his all, scoring a nice 7/14 from afar to add to his 36 points. The only downside was his last quarter where he only scored two points, the last two of the match on free throws.
– Davion Mitchell roughed up Cade Cunningham. Few teams have the profile to stop the Pistons’ rough leader. That’s not the case for Miami, which placed leech Davion Mitchell on Cade Cunningham. Despite his 31 points (including 17 scored on free throws), the Detroit leader had a hard time expressing himself, finding himself condemned to the feat to score. Limited to 6/16 shooting, he also distinguished himself by his 7 lost balls (compensated by his 11 assists).
– Ausar Thompson’s big dumpling. The Heat lost their footing at the end of the match, and this crucial possession at 114-107 was one of the examples, since it was Bam Adebayo who found himself playing leader at that moment, dribbling at the head of the racket. Two dribbles were enough for Cade Cunningham to intercept the ball and propel Ausar Thompson on the counterattack for a dunk which brought Detroit back to two possessions (109-114). Unfortunately for the Thompson twin, barely more than 30 seconds later, when the locals had returned to -2 (112-114), his throw-in to allow his team to equalize or take the advantage turned into a fiasco. His pass to Cade Cunningham was intercepted, sealing the victory for the Heat, after two final throws from Norman Powell…
– Marcus Sasser confirms. Already in sight against the Lakers, the back blazed once again as he was the one who brought hope back to the ranks of the Pistons with a nice 4/6 3-pointer for 18 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 interceptions. The only thing missing was victory for him to be the hero of the evening.
– Jalen Duren’s ankle turned. The Pistons pivot suffered a serious ankle sprain on a drive and quickly returned to the locker room. From the break, the Pistons confirmed that he would not return to the game. Now we have to wait for the return of the first exams.
How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
