The Miami HEAT fell to the Detroit Pistons 104-81 Wednesday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Gerald Green led the way for the HEAT with 16 points.
1. Goran Dragic in Attack Mode Early
In an otherwise slow first half for the HEAT, Dragic was locked-in against the Pistons. In the first two quarters, he routinely beat his man off the dribble and attacked the rim with purpose. Dragic also knocked down a number of mid-range jumpers, both off the dribble and off screens. His aggressive approach to the game was much needed in Miami’s first road game in over two weeks. In all, Dragic had 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting and four assists.
2. Hassan Whiteside vs. Andre Drummond
While Drummond had a great game on Wednesday night, Whiteside started to pick things up in the third quarter. In the period, Whiteside fought hard on the offensive glass and gave the HEAT some second-chance opportunities. Thanks to that, he scored five points and grabbed 10 boards in the third alone. Otherwise, Whiteside came through on the defensive end with three blocks, including two on Drummond. In addition to his three blocks, the 26-year-old also tallied 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and 13 rebounds (five offensive) on the night.
3. Green Keeps Fighting
Even though Miami was down, Green continued to fight and never gave up against Detroit. The dynamic scorer poured in nine of his 16 points in the third, as he started to catch fire from the perimeter. Green also made a nice play on the defensive end earlier in the game to force a turnover on Drummond. In total, the vet grabbed five boards to go along with his 16 points. Hopefully Green can use this game as a springboard moving forward.
Other Takeaways:
-With Miami reeling a bit early on, Tyler Johnson provided a spark in the second quarter. Johnson grabbed an offensive board, scored six straight points and forced a turnover on Steve Blake all in a little over one minute of game time.
On one of those buckets, he drove aggressively inside past Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, absorbed a lot of contact from Aron Baynes and still got the layup to go.
Johnson finished the game with eight points, three rebounds and an assist.
Game Notes:
-Luol Deng (strained hamstring) sat out and Amar’e Stoudemire (illness) didn’t travel with the team.
-The HEAT will be in action again on Friday night against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.