Heat at Pistons
The Miami Heat look to continue their recent success on the road when they take on the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night. The Heat have won five of their last seven away from home and opened up a four-game road swing with an 83-75 victory over the Boston Celtics. Miami has held its opponents to 87 points or less in each of its last five victories and hopes to turn up the defensive intensity once more by beating the Pistons for the 10th time in its last 11 meetings at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Detroit snapped a four-game losing skid with an impressive 114-101 victory over the Houston Rockets on Saturday. The Pistons have won three out of their last four at home and look to start a critical stretch - with eight of their next 11 games in the Motor City - by beating the Heat for the first time since Dec. 3, 2013. "It's always fun when the Palace is rocking," Detroit power forward Greg Monroe told reporters. "So we just have to keep it up and hopefully they'll keep coming back to support us."
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, Sun Sports (Miami), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE HEAT (21-26): Hassan Whiteside continued his stellar play by recording 20 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots in the win over the Celtics. "I'm really glad that coach (Erik) Spoelstra believed in me to make the plays," Whiteside told reporters. "I don't know how good they thought I could shoot when I first got here." Dwyane Wade has missed the last two games with a strained right hamstring and will be sidelined for an extended period of time while Luol Deng will likely return to the lineup on Tuesday after missing the last three outings with a calf problem.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (18-30): Kentavious Caldwell-Pope buried six 3-pointers en route to a career-best 28 points and pulled down five rebounds while D.J. Augustin added 13 of his 28 points from the free-throw line and dished out 12 assists in the win over the Rockets. The Pistons are reportedly set to sign John Lucas III to a 10-day contract as they look for some more depth at point guard after Brandon Jennings was lost for the season with a torn Achilles' tendon on Jan. 24. Jonas Jerebko is set to become the 51st player in franchise history to make 300 appearances.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Heat have won 12 of the last 14 matchups with the Pistons.
2. Whiteside is averaging 16.5 points and 15.5 rebounds in his last four outings.
3. Detroit is third in the NBA in rebounding (45.7) and has won the battle of the boards in eight of it last nine games.