Running on all pistons, Detroit defeats Miami

Kyle Singler scored 18 points to lead seven Detroit players in double figures, Andre Drummond had 18 rebounds and the Pistons beat the Miami Heat, 107-97, on Tuesday night to snap the NBA champions’ 10-game winning streak.

Greg Monroe and Rodney Stuckey each scored 16 for Detroit, which got 15 apiece from Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings. The Pistons led by 18 before Miami got within three points in the fourth, but never trailed in the game’s final 47 minutes.

Jennings sealed it with just over two minutes left, stealing the ball from LeBron James and setting up Monroe for an easy score.

James and Michael Beasley each scored 23 for Miami. The Heat played without guard Dwyane Wade, the All-Star sitting for the fourth time this season to rest a sore knee.

Miami shot a season-low 44 percent. The Heat were down 11 when James re-entered the game with 7:58 left. Within 10 seconds, the lead was down to seven. Beasley scored while getting fouled, missed the free throw, and had the rebound tipped in by Chris Andersen to get Miami to 89-82.

A dunk by James got Miami to 91-88 with 6:16 left, but the Pistons scored the next five and held on from there. Drummond finished with 10 points, as did Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Chris Bosh scored 14 and Ray Allen added 12 for Miami. Drummond had more rebounds than any three Heat players combined, and the Pistons held a 46-34 edge on the boards.

The tone was set early.

James asked out of the game with 3:43 left in the opening quarter, 39 seconds before he picked up his second foul. The Heat had more turnovers (eight) than field goals (seven) in the first period, missed 12 of their first 16 shots and found themselves down by 11 points before the game was 11 minutes old. And it wasn’t like the Pistons were all that hot, either - they shot 48 percent in the quarter.

When the second quarter started, the Pistons were sizzling.

Drummond had four points in an 8-0 spurt to start the second, one that gave Detroit an 18-point lead with 9:30 left in the half. With that, the Pistons became just the second opposing team in the last 83 Miami home games, including playoffs, to lead by that many on the Heat’s home floor.

James had 14 points in the second quarter, one of the very few reasons why it wasn’t a total Detroit runaway by the break.

AP