MIAMI â A resurgent Dwyane Wade turned back the clock with 40 points to lead the shorthanded Miami Heat to victory over the visiting Detroit Pistons 109-102 on Sunday.
With Hassan Whiteside and Chris Andersen once again sitting out due to injury, Udonis Haslem was the last big man left standing and he responded with a double-double by halftime with 10 points and 10 rebounds, just two games after recording his first double-double in nearly two years against the Boston Celtics. Both captains had a strong first half, with Wade leading all scorers with 17 points from a mix of close range baskets and midrange jumpers.
The Pistons raced out to the early lead by knocking down eight of their first nine shots and controlling the paint on offense, but the Heat clawed back by scoring eight straight to tie the game just before the end of the first quarter. Though Miami was clearly missing Whiteside and Andersen, they aggressively attacked the basket and scored 34 of their 49 first-half points in the paint.
Powered by Wade and James Ennis, the Heat extended their lead to as much as 17 points in the third quarter by showing a much more dynamic offense than they displayed in their recently concluded four-game road trip. Ennis in particular consistently broke down the Pistons' offense with his constant off-the-ball movement and he had 10 points in the third quarter. Detroit, however, closed the quarter by scoring 11 straight points to cut the Heat's lead to just six points.
Wade opened the final quarter by scoring on three straight trips down the floor, with Chalmers and Walker following that up by knocking down consecutive corner 3-pointers to push the lead back to double-digits.
With an early elbow injury to Michael Beasley â their only true frontcourt player on the bench â coach Erik Spoelstra was forced to go with an ultra-small lineup of Goran Dragic, Tyler Johnson, Mario Chalmers, Henry Walker and Ennis while Haslem took a short rest in the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, the Heat were able to sustain their solid shooting and limit the Pistons' attack to maintain the lead the rest of the way with timely baskets from Wade and Chalmers.
Andre Drummond took advantage of the Heat's small size to lead the Pistons with 32 points to go along with 14 rebounds and guard Reggie Jackson was red-hot from the field all game long for 31 points but they had little support with just one other player reaching double-figures in points.
The victory helped solidify the Heat's no. 7 position in the standings with the Boston Celtics, who are in the eighth spot, losing to the Los Angeles Clippers.
THE TURNING POINT
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's layup to open the fourth quarter got the Pistons within four points, but the Heat's 12-4 run over the course of the next two minutes provided enough of a cushion for the victory.
THE DIFFERENCE MAKER
Wade's big-time performance was obviously huge but Ennis' second-half performance off the bench provided the much-needed offensive support to complement Wade and give the Heat a boost to help secure the victory.
STAT OF THE GAME
Despite the absence of their tallest players, the Heat won the rebounding battle 46-37. Every Heat player that participated tonight grabbed at least one rebound.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Heat host the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.
You can follow Surya Fernandez on Twitter @SuryaHeatNBA or email him at SuryaFoxSports@gmail.com.
