The Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat, who haven’t met since Opening Night, are set for a rematch.
The Heat won that game by a point, and the teams’ seasons have gone in vastly different directions since. The Pistons are tied for the worst record in the NBA, and the Heat are vying for a guaranteed playoff spot.
Miami, 10-3 in the past 13 games, will host the Pistons on Tuesday night.
After a 5-1 road trip that started in Milwaukee and ended in Denver, the Heat returned home and beat the Utah Jazz in a high-octane game, 126-120, on Saturday night.
Miami’s Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo combined for 60 points, including a season-high 37 by the former.
“When Jimmy and Bam play with that competitive spirit,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “our guys feel like we can beat anyone.”
Jazz coach Will Hardy put it another way, saying: “Jimmy got away from us.”
He gets away from a lot of teams. Butler leads Miami in scoring (21.8) and steals (1.4), and he ranks second in assists (4.8) and third in rebounds (5.5).
Adebayo leads Miami in rebounds (10.4) and ranks third in scoring (20.4).
Tyler Herro is Miami’s other big scoring star, averaging 20.8 points. However, Herro missed the Utah game with a knee injury and is questionable for Detroit.
The Heat will be without Josh Richardson, who is recovering from a dislocated right shoulder. Kevin Love is questionable due to a foot injury.
Miami, though, has Duncan Robinson. He is the Heat’s leader in effective shooting percentage at 59.1 percent. That statistic considers the added value of a 3-pointer, and he is shooting 55.6 on 2-pointers, 40.5 on 3-pointers and 88.6 on free throws.
Meanwhile, Detroit is coming in off of short rest. While Miami was off Sunday, Detroit was in Orlando, losing 113-91 to the Magic.
With that loss, the Pistons (9-51) started the work week tied with the Washington Wizards for the worst record in the NBA.
The Pistons had a good three-game start to the season at 2-1, including that Opening Night contest. In that game, Detroit rallied from a 19-point deficit before falling 103-102.
Detroit held Miami scoreless for the final 2:57, and the Pistons nearly came away with a victory on a 30-footer at the buzzer by Cade Cunningham, but the shot missed.
“The way our team competed is something we can build on,” Cunningham said that night.
As it turns out, the Pistons, after that surprising start, followed that up with a dreadful 28-game losing streak, which tied an NBA record for futility.
Cunningham had 30 points and 12 assists in the skid-breaking victory against Toronto on Dec. 30, and he continues to be Detroit’s biggest hope for the future.
Detroit’s other current starters are Isaiah Stewart, Jalen Duren, Jaden Ivey and Ausar Thompson.
All five of Detroit’s starters are former first-round picks and are 22 or younger.
And they’re all contributing.
Cunningham leads the team with 22.2 points and 7.4 assists per game. Duren is the leader in rebounds at 11.8, and Thompson averages 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocked shots. Ivey adds 15.0 points per game, and Stewart averages 11.1 points and 6.8 rebounds.
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