Pistons fall to Heat 116-103 thanks to abysmal final quarter
The Detroit Pistons have allowed the Miami Heat to extend their winning streak to seven games after falling 116-103 at American Airlines Arena.
Despite outscoring the Miami Heat 31-26 in the third quarter and holding a one-point lead at the final break, a lifeless final quarter from the Detroit Pistons allowed the Heat to run away with the lead.
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The Pistons scored just 12 points in the final 12 minutes of play.
They didn’t just struggle on the offensive end however, as the Heat knocked down shots at an alarming rate.
The Heat finished the game shooting 53 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the three point line, with Wayne Ellington doing the most damage, making 5 of 7 shots from deep.
Shooting 50 per cent from deep is an incredible performance, and it’s even more incredible when you factor in that Dion Waiters was 1 of 9 and the only player to shoot under 50 per cent while taking more than one three pointer.
Goran Dragic had his way with the defence on his way to scoring 23 points, while James Johnson played 31 minutes off the bench and finished with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.
There were few bright spots for the Pistons.
The biggest positive coming out of the game is that Andre Drummond looked dominant.
He had 17 points alongside 20 rebounds, while also being active on the defensive end to record 3 steals and 2 blocks.
Drummond looked focused and engaged from the start until the finish and made Hassan Whiteside look insignificant.
Reggie Jackson was also solid for much of the game (24 points, 58 per cent shooting, 7 rebounds), but was disappointing with the game on the line in the final quarter.
It’s also slightly concerning that he had just 3 assists and the team finished with only 11 assists overall.
The loss sees the Pistons slump to a 21-26 record and fall even further back in the race for a spot in the playoffs.
Reggie Jackson
PG, Detroit Pistons
BReggie Jackson was having quite an impressive game right up until the fourth quarter started. The final quarter marred what was mostly a great game for him as he scored 24 points on 10 of 17 shooting while also going hard on the glass to pull in 7 rebounds. Jackson finishing with just 3 assists is slightly concerning thought, especially as the Pistons seem to struggle to manufacture assists from other players.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
SG, Detroit Pistons
FThis was one of worst games Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has played in his career. In his 34 minutes of game time he had just 5 points (2 of 11) and his defence wasn’t much of a factor as the Pistons were scorched from all over the court by the Heat.
Marcus Morris
SF, Detroit Pistons
BMarcus Morris turned in a solid performance against the Heat. He had 14 points on very tidy shooting (63.6 per cent) and really couldn’t be faulted too heavily.
Jon Leuer
PF, Detroit Pistons
DJon Leuer wasn’t much of a factor in his 24 minutes. He scored 8 points, took just one three-point attempt and pulled in a single rebound. Despite this he was the only starter to finish the game in the positive for plus/minus (+1).
Andre Drummond
C, Detroit Pistons
AAndre Drummond as at his destructive best against the Heat. He had 17 points, shot over 50 percent, had 20 rebounds (8 offensive), 3 steals and 2 blocks. It was positive to see Drummond have a bigger impact on the offensive end and overall he dominated his matchup with Hassan Whiteside.
Ish Smith
PG, Detroit Pistons
D+It was a run of the mill type game for Ish Smith, who had 8 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, but didn’t offer the team much offensive fire off the bench.
Stanley Johnson
SF, Detroit Pistons
CStanley Johnson was handy in his 15 minutes off the bench. He had 7 points and shot 75 percent, although it would far more ideal if he was given a bigger role in the offence.
Tobias Harris
PF, Detroit Pistons
BTobias Harris was reliable off the bench as usual. He had 16 points and shot the ball well, but bizarrely did not even attempt a single three-point shot in 27 minutes of game time.
Aaron Baynes
C, Detroit Pistons
C-Aron Baynes saw only 12 minutes of court time and was handy on the boards, picking up rebounds. He also managed to not pick up a single foul, which was a positive as it’s something he’s struggled with often this season.
Reggie Bullock
SG/SF, Detroit Pistons
DReggie Bullock was given a brief 6 minute cameo in which he didn’t do much except shoot 1 for 4.
Stan Van Gundy
Head Coach, Detroit Pistons
CStan Van Gundy had coached a solid enough game up until the fourth quarter, but he has to take some of the blame for such an insipid collapse. It was clear early in the fourth that the Pistons were in a funk and Van Gundy didn’t dig too deep to try and get the team out of it. This article originally appeared on 
