Pistons vs Heat final score: Detroit wins a wild one in overtime

Another Cade triple-double leads Detroit to a crazy win after a late rally.

After Tobias Harris was ruled out with a right thumb sprain and Jaden Ivey was a late scratch after going through warm-ups, the Detroit Pistons rolled out typical starters Cade Cunningham, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jalen Duren, but added the offensive-defensive one-two punch of Malik Beasley and Ausar Thompson. I’m not sure this lineup had seen any minutes together prior to tonight, but this group took us on a rollercoaster with one of the craziest games we’ve seen this season.

The game started with a lot of post action from Cade. Miami sent the double team and Cade was finding his shooters in Beasley and THJ for open threes. After an and-one and another post possession where Cade left his defender in the dust, Miami called their first timeout after Detroit led 19-11. Miami was able to chip away at the deficit, but an Ausar Thompson three helped keep the lead for the Pistons.

JB Bickerstaff called his first timeout after Detroit was up 22-21 with four-and-a-half minutes left in the first. The two teams exchanged baskets as Stew had a couple bunnies underneath the rim and Ron Holland continues to be hot from deep with another three. The Pistons had a 33-32 lead at the end of the first, but the real highlight was this missed dunk by Ausar Thompson where he almost killed a man:

An 11-2 Detroit run kicked off the second quarter as Cade Cunningham kept finding his shooters for open threes. Isaiah Stewart tried to contest a Bam Adebayo layup, but landed awkwardly and looked to tweak his left knee as he instantly went to the locker room. Ausar missed a few bunnies at the rim that he’ll usually make, but he was extremely active with two early steals and a block. He also slammed home a lob from Cade Cunningham in transition that forced a Miami timeout as Detroit was up 49-37 with seven minutes left in the second quarter.

Ausar snagged his third steal and then proceed to hit his patented fadeaway jumper in the lane to extend the lead to 14. Duren slammed home a Dwight Howard type of dunk on Kevin Love and Cade threw a no-look pass to a cutting Holland for a reverse layup as Little Caesars Arena was responding well to Detroit’s strong play with a 58-46 lead.

Miami countered with an 8-0 run to cut the Detroit lead to four as it felt like Jimmy Butler was yelling after every layup to try and get a call – and it was working. Paul Reed saw minutes after being re-signed two hours before the game and Detroit was going to need him after Stew was ruled out after hyperextending his knee. Get well soon, Stew.

The Pistons took a 63-59 lead behind the play of Cade, Ausar, and Beasley. Cade had 10 points on 4-for-4 from the field, five rebounds, and eight assists. Ausar was having a coming-out party as he had 11 points, five rebounds, one assist, three steals, and one block – and in only 13 minutes! Beasley was Detroit’s leading scorer with 13 and was 3-for-3 from deep – the entire team shot 9-for-13 from behind the long-line. Jimmy Butler was the only Heat player in double-digits as he had 21 for Miami.

The Pistons started the second half on a 9-0 run after Cade found Ausar and Duren for easy buckets, and Malik Beasley added another three. Detroit took an 82-66 lead halfway through the third as Cade found Ausar for another dunk and his 14th assist of the game. Cade looked under control as he was constantly setting up his teammates and didn’t seem to force anything. He had a sequence where Bam switched onto him so he drilled another off-the-dribble three, then clamped up Jimmy Butler on the other end to force him into a miss where he also snagged the rebound – we’re watching Cade take The Leap and he 100% deserves to be an All-Star this year.

The Pistons continued to play hot potato on offense as they kept the ball moving and Malik Beasley continued to drill open threes. Beasley hit his six three of the night to put the Pistons up 93-74 with two-and-a-half minutes left in the third. Detroit closed the third quarter with a Holland/Tecc/Ausar front court where Holland was guarding Jimmy Butler on a drive and Ausar made an incredible weak-side contest where Butler couldn’t get a shot off. We’re getting glimpses of what the future could look like with Ron and Ausar and I WANT MORE!

Detroit entered the fourth with a 97-81 lead. Things looked a little sloppy with some Pistons’ turnovers, but a Malik Beasley tomahawk slam for his 25th point forced Erik Spoelstra to call a timeout with Detroit leading 101-85 – he seemed pretty angry on the sideline all night. Cade Cunningham asked Jaime Jaquez for a quick dance after he twirled him around for another off-the-dribble three to extend the lead back to 19.

I lost track of the number of Ausar dunks and Beasley threes because neither stopped all night. Beasley continues to looks like the best budget free-agent signing from this summer and had a season-high 28 points after hitting his seventh three of the night.

A Tyler Herro three and a Terry Rozier layup made JB Bickerstaff using his last timeout with 2:24 left as the Pistons led 112-106 after Detroit was up by 19 with eight minutes left in the quarter. Herro was hot once again as another three landed and Jimmy Butler brought the game within one point after a layup. We were once again watching another fourth-quarter collapse by the Pistons.

Herro and Butler both missed their next shots with 30 seconds left and Cade drew a foul on the next possession to put the Pistons up three after burying both free throws. With 11.5 seconds left, Miami drew up a set for Tyler Herro who hit a bizarre fading three over Cade and Simone to tie the game at 114. Cade had a good look from 30 feet at the buzzer, but just missed as the shot was long. It seemed quite obvious to foul a Miami player before they could hoist a game-tying three, but that never happened. Miami finished the fourth quarter on an 18-2 run.

Detroit had not made a field goal since 5:39 in the 4th quarter. Miami was up 122-114 until Tim Hardaway Jr hit a three with 2:07 left in overtime. Cade found him two more times as THJ did his best Malik Beasley impression to hit three consecutive threes and gave the Pistons life again with a 123-122 lead. A shoeless Jimmy Butler hit a layup to take the lead back, but Cade rushed down the court as Jimmy was trying to put his shoe back on and was able to get a layup to fall over Bam and Rozier.

Pistons had the ball with 16 seconds left with a 125-124 lead, but THJ threw an errant inbounds pass to Malik Beasley and gave it right back to Miami for a free chance at the win. After a quick foul, Miami inbounded it to Tyler Herro who had an iso possession against Jalen Duren, but Duren had a great contest and Herro couldn’t be the hero tonight as Detroit won 125-124 in overtime.

I did not have my Apple Watch on, but there’s no doubt I was in calorie-burning mode as my heart-rate was at treadmill levels. This was the most insane game of the season that made me feel excitement, anger, disappointment, and relief in a matter of minutes – but that’s life as a Pistons fan, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Detroit shot 49% from the field and 50% from deep behind Beasley’s seven threes and THJ’s five threes. Cade Cunningham is an absolute madman who finished with another triple-double: 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 18 assists (new career-high). Jalen Duren got back to being very active on the boards with nine points and 16 rebounds. Best of all, Ausar Thompson finally was unleashed in his Athletic Draymond role as he stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, nine rebounds, one assist, four steals, and one block in 27 minutes. That’s right – Ausar played 27 minutes tonight, baby!

The Pistons move to 11-16 on the season. Detroit plays again on Thursday night as they host the 5-19 Utah Jazz .

Good luck going to sleep quickly after that one.