Home work’s perfect
Heat push past weary, shorthanded Pistons, raise record to 7-3
MIAMI — The Miami Heat know plenty about being kicked while down. Two of their three losses this season have come on the second nights of back-to-back games.
So Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena, the Heat did the kicking — well at least enough early — to push past a Detroit Pistons team that had lost the previous night at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Idle since Friday night, the Heat rolled to a 29-point first-half lead and held on after some shaky late play to up their record to 7-3 with a 117-108 victory at the start of a stretch of five consecutive games against teams with losing records.
It’s not as if the Heat were not dealing with hardship of their own, with Justise Winslow, Tyler Herro, Derrick Jones Jr. and James Johnson sidelined. It’s just that home court again has turned into a factor, now 4-0 at 601 Biscayne after going 19-22 at home last season.
Down in terms of manpower as well as rest, the Pistons were without Blake Griffin, Derrick Rose and Reggie Jackson, among others.
The Heat previously lost on the second nights to back-to-back games to the Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers. Their other loss was to the Denver Nuggets.
The Heat led, 28-17, at the
end of the first quarter, 59-37, at the half and, 92-72, going into the fourth.
The Heat got 20 points from Kendrick Nunn, 18 from Goran Dragic, a 20-point, 13-assist double-double from Jimmy Butler and an 18-point, 14-rebound double-double from Bam Adebayo.
The Pistons were led by the 22 points of Luke Kennard and the 11 assists of former University of Miami guard Bruce Brown.
Five degrees of Heat from Tuesday’s game:
1. Sixth sense: Dragic continues to thrive against opposing reserves, this time with 12 points and five assists by the end of the first half.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has consistently praised Dragic for accept the reserve role, which in many ways has served as the fulcrum to the Heat’s rotation, allowing Spoelstra to mix and match his wings throughout the game.
As it is, Dragic was the lone reserve Heat guard available Tuesday beyond two-way player Daryl Macon, who made his Heat debut.
2. Slam Bam: While he wasn’t matched up directly against Andre Drummond, with Meyers Leonard taking much of that defensive assignment, Adebayo wound up with Drummond-like per-minute numbers.
Adebayo was slowed only by his foul trouble, forced to the bench with his fourth with 5:02 left in the third period.
Drummond fouled out with 8:38 to play, with 16 points and nine rebounds.
3. Opening shot: With Duncan Robinson scoring eight of the Heat’s first 12 points as part of a 12-2 start, it again raised the question of whether the Heat benefit with extra shooting in their opening unit.
Robinson’s early shooting, which included a pair of 3-pointers, allowed Butler to open as the Heat’s primary playmaker, with four first-quarter assists.
It is a contrast the opening dynamic with Justise Winslow, who missed his third consecutive game in the NBA’s concussion protocol.
4. Hey, that’s UD: Udonis Haslem made his first appearance of the season when he entered late in the third quarter following the fifth foul on Chris Silva.
Haslem, who did not appear in the preseason, received a rousing ovation when he entered, when he secured his first rebound of the season and when he scored his first points of the season, on a shot in the lane.
The appearance officially made it 17 NBA seasons, all with the Heat, for Haslem.
He later returned with 48.5 second play after Silva fouled out. to
5. As the schedule turns: The Pistons arrived just before 6 a.m. after their Monday night postgame flight from Detroit was delayed four hours by weather, settling into their hotel around 7 a.m.
“I’ve probably been in situations like that 10 times over the years,” Spoelstra said. “It’s inevitable you’ll have some kind of issue with the plane. You adjust as best as you can. At least it’s an even playing field. Everyone goes through it at some point.”