Heat survives late Pistons rally, beats top seeded Detroit for fourth win in row
Five takeaways from the Heat’s impressive 118-112 win against Detroit on Thursday night in Michigan:
▪ The Heat nearly blew a 22-point third quarter lead but survived for its fourth win in a row.
After surging ahead 78-56 midway through the third quarter, the Pistons pulled to within 98-89 with just under 10 minutes.
Miami (19-15) settled itself and led 114-103 with two minutes remaining before a Pistons run pulled them to within 114-112.
But Jaime Jaquez Jr. responded with the biggest basket of the night, a turnaround jumper with 28 seconds left to push the lead back to four.
“Jaime settled in, they didn’t double and he got to a spot he’s comfortable with and put it away,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
After a Pistons timeout, Davion Mitchell stole the inbounds pass, and Norman Powell hit two free throws to essentially settle matters.
Powell was brilliant for three quarters, scoring 19 in the first half and 15 in the third quarter, before missing his only two field-goal attempts in a two-point fourth quarter.
He finished with 36 points, shooting 12 for 23 from the field and 7 of 14 on threes. He hit all five of his free throws and has now made 30 in a row.
“What was really impressive with Norm through three quarters was he was getting so much of his points in random situations,” Spoelstra said. “He was getting them in transition, random catch and gos. He has a great skill for that.”
Jaquez Jr. injected energy and offense with 19 points on 9 for 13 shooting.
Mitchell was a catalyst, hitting two threes during that 15-0 Heat run that pushed Miami’s lead to 78-56 midway through the third. He had 8 points and 11 assists and that big steal late.
Andrew Wiggins scored 7 of his 17 in the fourth.
Miami overcame a big deficit at the free throw line. Detroit took 31 free throws and made 27. The Heat attempted 20 and made 18.
The Heat played without Tyler Herro (toe) and Pelle Larsson (ankle), while the Pistons were without starting small forward Tobias Harris.
▪ The Heat played swarming defense against a team that’s top 10 in the league in scoring and offensive rating. And for three quarters, Miami kept its offense rolling against a top-five defensive team.
Miami forced 20 Pistons turnovers - including seven by Cade Cunningham - and held the Pistons to 35 percent three-point shooting (9 for 26). Miami also scored at least 20 points off opponent turnovers for the third time in four games.
Dru Smith had three steals and now has 12 in his past six games.
“There were some great defensive possessions, good deflections, a couple stops, tough rebounds,” Spoelstra said.
Offensively, Miami got out in transition in the first half and had some success navigating a defense that entered second in the league in defensive rating (permitting 110.7 points per 100 possessions) and fifth in points permitted per game (112.7).
After mustering just 91 points in a 21-point loss to Toronto on Dec. 23, the Heat has now scored 126, 142, 147 and 118 in its past four games.
And the Heat did it even though Detroit’s size and defensive activity created problems at times. The Pistons blocked nine shots and forced 17 Heat turnovers.
But Miami overcame it with timely shots and crisp ball movement and getting out in transition. Miami had 18 fast break points and made 14 threes.
“A good start to 2026,” Spoelstra said. “That’s a very good team. This was an important one for us to get.”
▪ Both teams started bigger lineups, and Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware got the better of Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart on the boards.
Adebayo finished with 14 boards (five above his season average) and Ware had 13, compared with four for Stewart and five for Duren, who played just 18 minutes before leaving in the third quarter with a sprained right ankle.
Ware shot only 1 for 6 - including 0 for 4 on threes - and finished with just four points. But his rebounds and defensive activity (two blocks, two steals) made a difference.
Adebayo also was off with his shot (5 for 14), but his 15 points were enough. Miami outscored Detroit by 17 points when he was on the floor, easily the best plus/minus among Heat starters.
“Bam and Kel’el were terrific and physical on the glass,” Spoelstra said. “We knew we would have to bring a physical edge.”
Miami out-rebounded Detroit 47-41 on Thursday after the Pistons out-rebounded the Heat by five in Detroit’s overtime win Nov. 29 in Miami.
▪ Jaquez’s offense remained in overdrive.
Jaquez scored 10 in the first half, on 6 for 8 shooting, en route to scoring at least 19 points for the sixth consecutive game.
Just as importantly, he remains a pace-pushing energizer off Miami’s bench.
He entered shooting 42 for his last 71. He’s now shooting 52.6 percent, up from 46.1 last season, and remains a strong candidate for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award.
Jaquez’s excellent work helped Miami overcome a 1 for 10 shooting night from Nikola Jovic and 31 points from Detroit’s Cunningham, who made 17 of 18 free throws.
▪ This was arguably Miami’s most impressive win of the season, at least alongside two victories against the Knicks earlier this season.
The Pistons entered 25-8 and are now enjoying the fruits of having four top-five picks in the past five drafts.
While the Heat has only one top 10 pick on the roster (former No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins), the Pistons have four high lottery picks - Cade Cunningham (first overall in 2021), Jaden Ivey (fifth overall in 2022), Ausar Thompson (fifth overall in 2023) and Ron Holland (fifth overall in 2024).
“That’s a physical team,” Mitchell said. “They’re a really good team, young team. Honestly, obviously, they weren’t good a couple years ago. But now they kept the same team, and they’re just better players.”
Over the past 20 years, Miami has 126 playoff wins compared to 32 for Detroit.
The Heat (19-15) now returns home to play Minnesota at 5 p.m. Saturday and New Orleans at 6 p.m. Sunday.
This story was originally published January 1, 2026 at 9:38 PM.
