And it gets worse: Cade Cunningham banks in 3-pointer for 116-113 Pistons win, extending Heat skid to nine
MIAMI – The search for a win, any win continues.
Something that last happened for the Miami Heat on March 3.
For a team that often talks about relief points, not enough were forthcoming for Erik Spoelstra’s team in Wednesday night’s 116-113 loss to the Detroit Pistons at Kaseya Center, a game decided by a banked-in 3-pointer by Cade Cunningham just before the final buzzer.
And so, the longest losing streak of Spoelstra’s 17-season coaching career now stands at nine.
While center Bam Adebayo, clearly thought enough was enough, closing with 30 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and while teammates Tyler Herro and Kel’el Ware tried to stand strong in support, it wasn’t enough. Not even with Herro closing with 29 points, Ware with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
As has been commonplace during the skid and even before, the Heat blew a double-digit lead, this time a 12-point advantage built in the first period.
And, as has been commonplace during the skid, another sizable fourth-quarter lead was squandered, up eight early in the final period.
Ultimately, the Heat were unable to overcome the 25 points. 12 rebounds and 11assists of Cunningham.
Especially the final three of those points.
Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday night’s game:
1. Closing time: The Heat led 32-22 after the first period and 60-58 at half. Nonetheless, the Pistons’ 38 points in the paint over the first two quarters were the most in a first half against the Heat this season.
The Heat then took a 93-88 lead into the fourth, with Herro starting the period on the bench.
From there, the Heat went up 101-93 with 9:12 to play.
Herro then returned with the Heat up 101-07 with 7:27 to play, which is also when Adebayo took his fourth-quarter rest.
Adebayo quickly was summoned back to the scorers’ table, returning with 4:57 to play and the Heat up 107-104.
The Pistons then moved to a 110-109 lead, amid several uneven possessions by Ware.
Eventually the Heat forced a Pistons 24-second violation with 18.1 seconds to play, down 113-111.
After successive timeouts, unable to initially inbound, the Heat were able to get Herro to the line with 5 seconds to play, draining both to tie it 113-113.
That’s when Cunningham banked in his 3-pointer to win it.
2. Taking charge: Adebayo was up to 20 points at halftime, including the basket that gave the Heat their intermission lead.
While his scoring against the Pistons’ muscle often came from the perimeter, he again showed how his scoring opens up when cast in a starting lineup alongside the size of Kel’el Ware.
Included in Adebayo’s scoring was a first-half 3-pointer, giving him 55 for the season. He entered with 23 over his first seven seasons. He then converted another 3-pointer in the third period.
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3. Herro, too: Herro also helped the Heat keep pace offensively, with 16 first-half points, like Adebayo, feasting from the midrange.
He was up to 23 points going into the fourth.
But that’s when the scoring again slowed for Herro when needed most.
4. Rotation revision: With Andrew Wiggins missing a second consecutive game with a leg contusion, the Heat unveiled their 22nd lineup of the season, yet another group that had not played a single minute together until starting together.
This time the first five was Adebayo, Herro, Ware, Duncan Robinson and Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Shuffled out of the mix was Terry Rozier, with the Heat instead going off the bench, in order, with Davion Mitchell, Haywood Highsmith, Alec Burks and Pelle Larsson.
It was the fourth time in the last 14 games the Rozier was benched. He had played only a single, six-minute stint in Monday night’s loss to the New York Knicks.
5. Home run: The Heat’s five-game homestand continues Friday night against the Houston Rockets, followed by games Sunday against the Charlotte Hornets, Tuesday night’s return by Jimmy Butler with the Golden State Warriors and then a game against the Atlanta Hawks.
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