Pistons 93, Heat 92
MIAMI -- The Detroit Pistons have had their best shooting long distance shooting performances against the Miami Heat so far this season.
The Pistons made 15 3-pointers Tuesday night and erased an early 18-point deficit in a 93-92 victory over the Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The outcome ironically came down to a pair of jumpers that the Heat missed.
Heat guard Dwyane Wade had a chance to give the Heat (16-11) the lead in the closing seconds, but missed a pull-up jumper that was rebounded by Pistons forward Andre Drummond with 1.9 seconds left.
Drummond left the door open for Miami, however, when he missed two subsequent free throws.
But Heat forward Chris Bosh missed on an open look with a foot on the 3-point line at the buzzer as the shot bounced off the rim. A replay later showed that the shot would not have counted as time expired with the ball still on Bosh's hand.
Detroit (17-12) made a season-high 16 3-pointers in its first game against the Heat on Nov. 25 which resulted in a 104-81 victory.
On Tuesday, the Pistons won their fifth game in their past six, largely by making seven triples in the second quarter as they outscored the Heat 36-18 following a 34-18 first quarter in favor of the Heat.
After suffering its worst defeat of the season the last time it faced the Pistons, the Heat put an emphasis on starting strong.
The Pistons entered the game shooting only 32.7 percent from 3-point range, but shot 15 of 29 (51.7 percent) after shooting 16 of 31 (51.6 percent) in their first meeting.
Detroit made 10 3-pointers in the first half as guards Stanley Johnson and Miami-native Steve Blake each hit four.
Guard Reggie Jackson led the Pistons with 18 points. Guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a 3 with 2:01 left in fourth to give the Pistons the lead and finished with 14 points. Johnson also finished with 14 points and Blake had 12. Drummond scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
Bosh finished with 20 points and Wade had 19.
Heat center Hassan Whiteside finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds.
But contrary to the Pistons’ red-hot long-range shooting, Miami shot only four of 18 from 3-point range (22.2 percent).
NOTES: Pistons G Brandon Jennings was active Tuesday night for the first time since rupturing his left Achilles tendon Jan. 24 at Milwaukee. Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said he would be the team's third point guard. ... G Jodie Meeks (foot) and G Spencer Dinwiddie (coach's decision) were the Pistons' inactives. ... The Miami Heat announced shortly before tip-off that G Goran Dragic would sit out due to a left wrist/hand injury. Dragic had been previously dealing with right thumb injury. Fellow Slovenian G Beno Udrih started in his place. F Josh McRoberts (knee) missed his seventh consecutive game and G Tyler Johnson (shoulder) was inactive for the sixth time in seven games. ... Former Heat star G Tim Hardaway was back in Miami once again Tuesday on the opposing sideline. Hardaway, whose son played at the University of Michigan, is in his second season as an assistant coach for the Pistons. "It's not often that you walk into an arena and see one of your coach's numbers hanging up there," Van Gundy said. "I think he contributes in a lot of areas."