National Basketball Association

Heat 99, Pistons 93

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:07 p.m. ET

foxsports

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Joe Johnson scored 15 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter and the Miami Heat moved into a first-place tie in the Southeast Division by downing the Detroit Pistons 99-93 on Tuesday night at The Palace.

The Heat pulled even with Atlanta in the division and improved their chances of getting home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Miami completes its regular season on Wednesday at Boston.

Luol Deng contributed 17 points and 10 rebounds and Goran Dragic had 16 points for the Heat (48-33). Hassan Whiteside added 14 points and nine rebounds and Dwyane Wade chipped in 14 points.

Heat rookie forward Justise Winslow sat out with an ankle sprain.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led Detroit (43-38) with 17 points, and Marcus Morris supplied 16 points and nine rebounds. Tobias Harris also scored 16 points and Andre Drummond chipped in nine while grabbing 18 rebounds.

With the loss, combined with Indiana's victory over New York on Tuesday, the Pistons are locked into the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They will face top-seeded Cleveland in the first round.

Detroit's leading scorer, point guard Reggie Jackson, was a late scratch because of an abdominal strain. Jackson scored 39 points in a 112-99 victory over Washington on Friday night that clinched the Pistons' first playoff berth since the 2008-09 season.

Neither team led by more than five points during the first three quarters. The Pistons took their biggest lead in the third, when Drummond followed his own miss to make it 67-62. Miami then finished the quarter with a 9-2 spurt, capped by a Wade basket in the lane, to carry a 71-69 lead into the fourth.

Dragic made two jumpers early in the fourth quarter to nudge Miami's lead to five. Johnson fired in back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 85-78 with 5:26 remaining. Johnson added a short jumper for a nine-point lead.

The Pistons chipped away and got within four at 93-89 when Morris tossed in a 3-pointer with 1:24 remaining. Johnson then finished off Detroit with a corner triple.

A sloppily played first half ended in a 50-all tie. The Heat committed 11 first-half turnovers but shot 52.8 percent from the field behind Deng's 14 points.

NOTES: Heat C Hassan Whiteside's 3.69 blocks-average is higher than the team total of the Pistons, who rank last in that category at 3.61. ... Detroit C Andre Drummond's 66 double-doubles entering the game ranked second in franchise history behind Bob Lanier's 69 during the 1972-73 season. ... Miami was 15-0 when holding opponents below 90 points. ... The Heat have a winning record against every division except the Pacific. They were 5-5 against Pacific Division clubs. ... The Pistons rank second in the NBA in second-chance points at 14.8 per game, trailing only Oklahoma City's 15.7. ... Detroit will finish with a winning record for the first time since the 2007-08 season. ... Miami SF Justise Winslow leads the team in games played. "He's earned his minutes," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "It hasn't at all been about development. He's a competitor and that's probably one of his strongest suits."