The Miami Heat fought their way out of the play-in tournament and reached the NBA Finals last season. They would like to avoid that extra step this spring, which is why their weekend visit to Detroit could prove crucial.
The Heat will look to end a four-game losing streak against the Pistons on Friday and will stay in the Motor City for a game Sunday afternoon.
The Heat (35-30) currently sit in eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings and must finish in the top six to avoid the play-in tournament.
In their last loss, the Heat trailed the Denver Nuggets by a point early in the fourth quarter and were outscored 28-17 over the final 12 minutes in the 100-88 loss.
“When the (Nuggets) want to use the jets, they’ve been able to leave teams behind in the dust and that’s what it felt like (Wednesday),” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of of the team’s opponent in last season’s NBA Finals. . “It was like they flipped a switch in the last four minutes.”
Miami shot 42.5 percent from the field last meeting and knocked down just five 3-pointers on 21 attempts. The Heat are 2-12 when not reaching the 100-point mark.
“Obviously we struggled to score,” Spoelstra said. “We had our moments and it’s good if we could have stayed in the mud. But they had their moments and we stayed where we were and that was basically the game.”
Miami won its first two meetings with Detroit this season. The Heat earned a 103-102 season-opening victory in October. The second meeting took place earlier this month, when they earned a 118-110 triumph on March 5 when Jimmy Butler had 26 points and eight assists.
During the current losing streak, Butler has been held to 18.0 points per game with just two 3-pointers in 11 attempts.
The Heat are not expected to have Tyler Herro available this weekend. He has been out the last nine games with a foot injury.
“He’s making progress,” Spoelstra said.
The Pistons (12-53) will try to capture their first three-game winning streak this season. They beat the Charlotte Hornets 114-97 on Monday, then dominated Toronto 113-104 on Wednesday. They are 3-1 in a six-game homestand.
The Pistons’ Jalen Duren had 24 points and a career-high 23 rebounds against the Raptors, recording his third 20-20 game of the season.
“We’re a team,” Duren said. “We all feel good playing (and) I feel like everyone is following their rhythm.”
In a difficult season, Detroit no longer occupies the cellar of the Eastern Conference. The Pistons have overtaken the Washington Wizards in the standings, at least for now.
“We’re talking about going down the tape as a team and finishing the year strong, so that’s kind of been my mindset these last few games, whatever games have been since the All-Star break,” Duren said . “I’m just going through the tape.”
Detroit star guard Cade Cunningham did not play in the fourth quarter against the Raptors. Head coach Monty Williams had Cunningham ready to come on late, but opted to let backup Marcus Sasser close out the win.
“I just decided to join this group. … The only thing that’s tough is when a guy sits that long and you try to bring him back, it’s pretty tough,” Wiiliams said. “He could have done it, but I just decided to sit him out. I’m just glad it worked out for us.”
