Heat rally past Pistons
DETROIT – The Miami Heat turned up the temperature in the fourth quarter on Wednesday and rallied for a 100-94 NBA victory over the Detroit Pistons.
Dwyane Wade scored 24 points and Chris Bosh added 23 to lift the Heat, who trailed by 11 points late in the third quarter.
Miami’s Mike Miller made a three-pointer in the final seconds of the third period, then the Heat scored the first 15 points of the fourth to take an 88-81 lead.
LeBron James, the third member of Miami’s vaunted star trio, had 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as Miami won its sixth of seven games in the wake of a five-game losing streak.
The Heat improved to 13-0 when James, Wade and Bosh each shoot at least 50 percent from the field.
“It’s a 48-minute game, and we need to play all 48 minutes,” James said. “We didn’t do that tonight, but we took a team that was rolling and we held them to 13 points on 4-of-19 shooting in the fourth. That’s big.”
Richard Hamilton led the Pistons with 27 points.
Hamilton made two straight three-pointers late in the third quarter to put Detroit ahead 78-70.
Miami’s Mike Bibby appeared to answer with a three-pointer of his own, but it was ruled a shot-clock violation.
Bibby made his first start for Miami in his 11th game with the team, scoring five points.
The Pistons led 81-73 going into the final quarter, but were scoreless in the fourth until Tracy McGrady’s basket with 6:25 to play.
“It’s always frustrating when you lose a game when you think you control the game, control the tempo of the game,” said Detroit’s Greg Monroe. “You’ve got to control the game all the way to the fourth quarter and close the game out.”
The Pistons were in firm control until the final quarter.
“We were getting our tails handed to us and it was humbling through three quarters,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “There is no easy way in this league, there really isn’t.”
Wade was pleased that the Heat were able to maintain their poise and seize the victory, which moved them within 1 1/2 games of Boston for the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference.
“It was a good win for us on the road tonight,” Wade said. “We want to continue to play well and tonight I think that we found a way to win.”
