AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Another stellar performance from Chris Bosh. Another hard-fought victory for the Heat against a wretched Central Division foe. Another missed game for Dwyane Wade.

The Heat defeated the struggling Pistons 101-98 on Wednesday at The Palace of Auburn Hills. LeBron James led the Heat with 32 points, played every minute of the second half and made critical free throws down the stretch. Bosh added 27 points, shooting 12 of 15 from the field.

Bosh finished the back-to-back against the Cavaliers and Pistons with 62 points. The Heat improved its record on the second night of back-to-backs to 3-3. The Heat is now 8-1 this season in games without Wade, who has missed six games in a row with a sprained ankle.

“It was a gutsy finish,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Like I said last night, it doesn’t matter how you get there. Whether you’re playing well or not playing well or the game is going your way or whether it’s going up and down — it was very competitive.”

Stepping up

Reserve Jonas Jerebko put the Pistons ahead 98-95 with 1:33 to play, but Detroit failed to go ahead by five points when Brandon Knight missed a pair of free throws with 1:26 to play. The Heat’s defense stiffened from there, holding the Pistons scoreless while James attacked the basket. James made six clutch free throws in the final 79 seconds of the game to give the Heat just enough.

“I just got to step up and make ones again,” said James, who was 8 of 8 from the line in the fourth quarter and 13 of 14 for the game. “I was able to do it.”

James missed an ill-advised three-pointer with 26.9 seconds left that gave the Pistons a chance to take the lead, but Greg Monroe missed inside on a nice defensive play by Bosh. James pulled down the rebound, drew a foul and made both free throws to give the Heat its 101-98 advantage.

Key moments

The Pistons had one last chance to tie the score, but reserve Austin Daye was called for traveling before he could get off a shot.

“With the moment of truth in the last two or three minutes we were able to get, finally, a couple consecutive stops and be able to get some triggers and get to the rim,” Spoelstra said. “We’ll take both these back-to-back wins in 48 hours and go home and get ready for a big one on Friday.”

The Heat plays the Knicks at home on Friday before taking on the Bulls on Sunday.

The Heat (13-5) led by 10 points with 7:22 left in the game when James found Mike Miller cutting to the lane for a layup. The game seemed in hand, but the Pistons refused to go away.

The Pistons pieced together its comeback mostly from the foul line. Daye’s free throws with 4:15 cut the Heat’s lead to two points, and Monroe tied it at 88-88 with two more foul shots. Daye finished with 28 points, a career high.

Miller answered with three-point attempt that missed the rim entirely and caromed off the lower padding of the backboard. Knight knocked down 19-foot jumper on the next possession to give the Pistons a 92-90 advantage. It was Detroit’s first lead since the beginning of the game.

Bosh steps up

Bosh scored five straight points, including a three-point play with 2:25 left, to give the Heat a 95-92 lead. But the Pistons (4-15) answered with some inside muscle of their own when Monroe went inside on Miller for a three-point play.

Battier missed a three-point attempt with the score tied at 95-all but Jerebko answered from behind the arc to put the Pistons 98-95 with 1:33 to play.

Career night

It was the Heat’s first look at Pistons rookie point guard Knight, who starred at Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest and the University of Kentucky. Knight had 17 points to go along with five assists. He had 11 points in the first half on 4-of-6 shooting.

Daye kept the Pistons in the game through two quarters. The second-year reserve forward from Gonzaga was 7 of 9 from the field and 4 of 5 from three-point range in the first half. It was a remarkable effort considering he was 1 of 17 from three-point range entering Sunday’s game.