Pistons Firing On Cylinders To Beat Heat 108-91
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AUBURN HILLS (CBSMiami/AP) – The Detroit Pistons were firing on all cylinders Tuesday night, beating the Miami Heat 108-91.
D.J. Augustin had 25 points and 13 assists and the Pistons closed the first quarter on a 25-1 run.
Chris Bosh scored 34 points, including 21 in the third quarter, but nobody else provided much help offensively for Miami, which was still without injured star Dwyane Wade. It was the first time in Bosh's five seasons with the Heat that they lost a regular-season game with him scoring at least 30 points. They had been 17-0.
Andre Drummond had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Pistons, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 18. Greg Monroe had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Detroit is now 2 1/2 games behind Miami and Charlotte, which occupy the last two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
The Pistons struggled in the immediate aftermath of an Achilles tendon injury to point guard Brandon Jennings, but Augustin has helped them steady themselves with victories in the last two games over Houston and Miami. Detroit outscored the Heat 22-4 on fast breaks, and Miami never completely recovered from its terrible finish to the first quarter.
The Heat shot 5 of 22 from the floor in the first and trailed 33-12 when it was over. The fast-break tally was 14-0 in Detroit's favor in that period.
Miami cut the deficit to eight in the second, but the Pistons closed with an 8-2 run and led 53-39 at halftime.
Bosh scored 21 of Miami's first 25 points of the third, but the lead remained in double digits the whole quarter, and it was 85-67 after three.
Chris Andersen scored 12 points for the Heat, and Hassan Whiteside added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
TIP-INS
Heat: Bosh did score 30 in a playoff loss on May 15, 2011, when the Heat were beaten at Chicago. ... Luol Deng scored 10 points in his return after missing three games with a left calf strain. Wade remains out with a right hamstring strain.
Pistons: Drummond had eight points and nine rebounds in the first quarter alone. ... Augustin set his season high in assists for a second straight game. He had 28 points and 12 assists in a win over Houston on Saturday night.
UP NEXT
Heat: At Minnesota on Wednesday night.
Pistons: At Indiana on Wednesday night.
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