, who are 1 1/2 games behind Brooklyn for the No. 6 spot. Reggie Jackson added 13 points and Andre Drummond had 12 points and 14 rebounds for Detroit, which started the fourth quarter on a 25-8 run to turn a fairly close game into a rout.Galloway was the catalyst of all that, hitting four 3-pointers in the opening minutes of the final quarter. He had scored a total of 28 points in February before his dazzling fourth quarter spurt put the game away for the Pistons.Josh Richardson scored 22 for Miami, which is 0-5 at home and 5-12 overall since Jan. 12. Dion Waiters scored 17, Dwyane Wade added 15 and Hassan Whiteside had 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Heat (26-32), who fell to 10th in the East.Miami got point guard Goran Dragic on the floor for the first time since Dec. 10, after a two-month rehab to recover from right knee surgery.The rest of the Heat injury news was bad.Miami was without Justise Winslow - who has been the starting point guard in Dragic's absence - because of a sore left knee, and James Johnson also missed the game while dealing with a sprained left shoulder. If that wasn't enough, the Heat then lost starting forward Rodney McGruder in the first half with a bruised right knee and said his status would be evaluated further on Sunday.Dragic came off the bench and finished with four points in 16 minutes. Duncan Robinson, who didn't play in the first half, started in McGruder's spot to open the third quarter.The Heat were up 29-18 late in the first quarter, after making 13 of their first 23 shots.It turned quickly from there in Detroit's direction.The Pistons outscored Miami 46-20 over the next 15 minutes, running out to a 64-49 lead while holding the Heat to 6-for-28 shooting over that span. Whiteside was 3 for 7 from the floor during that stretch, and his teammates were a combined 3 for 21.Miami got within five later in the third, and was within eight to open the fourth. But Galloway's 3-pointer with 10:22 left capped Detroit's 7-0 spurt to open the final quarter, and the Pistons lead was back to 15 at 91-76.Galloway added a four-point play about three minutes later, pushing Detroit's edge to 21. The Pistons would eventually lead by 26.TIP-INSPistons: Detroit, which went 6-10 in January, is 6-2 so far in February. ... The Pistons are exactly 28-30 after 58 games for the third consecutive year. They were 29-29 at this point in 2015-16. ... University of Miami coach Jim Larranaga and assistant Chris Caputo were at the game to watch Pistons rookie Bruce Brown, who played for the Hurricanes.Heat: It was Miami's first home game in three weeks. Saturday started a run where the Heat play 10 times at home in a 12-game stretch. ... Miami was 7 for 28 from 3-point range, and its bench was outscored 66-35 by Detroit's reserves.ELLINGTON RETURNSFormer Heat guard Wayne Ellington, traded earlier this month to Phoenix and then waived to sign with Detroit, returned to Miami as an opponent for the first time since the moves. Ellington spent a good part of his pregame warmup greeting former teammates, coaches and Heat officials. The reunions continue Monday when the Heat play host to Phoenix - the new home for Tyler Johnson, who was also in the Ellington trade.SECOND SWINGDetroit outscored Miami 34-17 in the second quarter - the biggest margin for the Pistons in a second quarter all season. It was the fifth time that Miami has been outscored by at least 15 points in that period this season.UP NEXTPistons: Host Indiana on Monday. Detroit lost to the Pacers 125-88 on Dec. 28.Heat: Host Phoenix on Monday. The Heat are 16-1 since 2009 against the Suns.---More NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Feb 23, 2019The Detroit Pistons proved Friday they could rally during crunch time without All-Star power forward Blake Griffin. They should have him back as they try to collect back-to-back road victories against Miami on Saturday.Griffin was ejected after picking up his second technical late in the third period at Atlanta on Friday. The Pistons gave away an 11-point lead shortly after Griffin retreated to the locker room, then erased a five-point deficit in the final two minutes to edge the Hawks 125-122.Detroit has won five of its last six games as it battles for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference."They realized we didn't have Blake to go to down the stretch," coach Dwane Casey told the media following the game. "We found other ways to score." The Pistons leaned on their other top players Friday, as center Andre Drummond piled up 26 points, 21 rebounds and five steals, and point guard Reggie Jackson had his highest-scoring game since 2017 with 32 points, eight assists and no turnovers."He and Andre put the team on their shoulders and carried us," Casey said.Casey wasn't impressed by the team's defensive effort, however, as the Pistons gave up 20 3-pointers to the Hawks."It doesn't matter what the (other) team's record is," he said. "I don't care who it is, whether it's Miami, San Antonio, doesn't matter. We've got to come out with a better disposition defensively and take away something. There's no excuse for our defense to be as lax as it was." The Heat lost at Philadelphia 106-102 on Thursday in their first game after the All-Star break. The Sixers outscored them 8-3 during crunch time."It still comes down to you want to win in this building against a very good team, you're going to have to buckle down and get two or three stops in a row and we weren't able to do that," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters after the game.Adding to Miami's frustration was that Philadelphia shot 23 more free throws."We're doing our job. Our job is to attack, put pressure on the defense and be aggressive," guard Dwyane Wade told the South Florida Sen Sentinel. "So we're doing our job. And there's nothing more we can do. It's just out of our hands from that standpoint." Veteran point guard Goran Dragic remained inactive on Thursday, although he has been cleared to play after undergoing knee surgery in December.In his absence, Justise Winslow has emerged as the team's main ballhandler. Dragic is questionable to play on Saturday."The most important thing is to win a game. So whatever Coach is going to ask for us, we're going to do that," Dragic told the media. "Justise is going to play on the ball, I can play off the ball. So we'll see. It depends on how we're going to play. We have a lot of guys who can play in the same positions, so at the end of the day that's a coach's decision." Detroit and Miami split the first two meetings this season, both in Detroit. They'll play again in Miami on March 13.--Field Level Media
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