Cade Cunningham had 29 points and eight assists as the visiting Detroit Pistons held off the Miami Heat 138-135 on Saturday.
Tobias Harris supplied a season-high 26 points for the Pistons, who nearly squandered a 22-point lead in the fourth but snapped a two-game skid. Duncan Robinson, playing against his former team for the first time, tossed in 18 points while Paul Reed added 13 with 10 rebounds.
Andrew Wiggins led Miami, which saw its six-game winning streak snapped, with 31 points. Normal Powell had 28 points and Tyler Herro contributed 24. Bam Adebayo added a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Detroit scored the last 13 points of the first quarter and led 71-59 at halftime. Cunningham had 19 points and Robinson contributed 11 as the Pistons shot 59.2% from the field in the opening half.
Wiggins led three Heat players in double digits with 13 points before intermission. Miami shot just 39.1% from the field over the first two quarters.
The Pistons maintained a double-digit lead in the third. An 8-0 spurt that included two baskets by Harris pushed the advantage to 88-69.
Wiggins scored five straight points midway through the quarter to cut Detroit’s lead to 12. A Powell layup after a Pistons turnover cut Detroit’s advantage to 99-89.
The Pistons then turned up the defensive intensity, making a couple of steals during a 9-2 run to finish the quarter and carry a 108-91 lead into the fourth.
Harris opened the quarter with a 3-pointer to stretch the advantage to 20. He hit another to make it 118-99. Ronald Holland II’s three-point play with 8:09 left gave the Pistons a 22-point lead.
The Heat refused to give up. They kept chipping away, and when Herro knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:25 left, Detroit’s lead was down to five. Following a Pistons turnover, Powell was fouled on a 3-point try and made all three free throws to make it 131-129.
Daniss Jenkins answered with a layup. Adebayo and Cunningham then traded baskets. Jenkins hit three free throws in the closing seconds to clinch Detroit’s win.
–Field Level Media
