DETROIT – Observations and other notes of interest regarding Sunday’s 104-101 victory over the Detroit Pistons:
– This wasn’t one the Heat could afford to leave out.
– Because at this stage of the play-in/playoff race, there are no throwaway matches for Erik Spoelstra’s team.
– So the preference would have been to have at least Jimmy Butler and Nikola Jovic.
– Instead, they were absent, as were Tyler Herro and Kevin Love.
– And yet Coach We Have Enough found a way with what was left.
– As Erik Spoelstra often does.
– I’m calling on Delon Wright for a few minutes.
– And Thomas Bryant for the significant minutes.
– Because even if Monday night in Philadelphia means tiebreakers, it would have been a backbreaker.
– Especially after losing a week ago against Washington.
– And so, the Hornets, Blazers and Nets remain the only team to lose to Detroit and Washington this season.
– Largely because of Duncan Robinson.
– I’m starting again in Michigan.
– And especially because of Bam Adebayo at the buzzer.
–And now it’s getting real.
– Five in a row against teams with winning records.
– Butler being needed Monday against his former team in Philadelphia.
– Amid continued uncertainty with Jovic and his hamstring strain.
– With Butler, Herro, Jovic and Love out, the Heat started with a lineup of Robinson, Bam Adebayo, Terry Rozier, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Haywood Highsmith.
– This gave the Heat their 32nd starting lineup of the season, a franchise record.
– Caleb Martin played as a first reserve for the Heat.
– Bryant followed.
– And then Wright got his first action in eight games, alongside Patty Mills.
– This left Jamal Cain and Orlando Robinson available but out of the mix.
– Highsmith’s first shot was the 500th of his career.
– The game concluded the fifth of six times the Heat have faced the same opponent in back-to-back games this season, having won Friday at Little Caesars.
– The Heat in such sets had already swept Charlotte, split a pair against the Pacers and split twice against the Bulls. The Heat concludes its regular season with such a back-and-forth pair against the Raptors.
– He also opened the 11th of the Heat’s 13 consecutive sets this season, ending Monday in Philadelphia. The Heat entered Sunday 6-4 ahead of those sets, 5-5 behind.
– Pistons coach Monty Williams explained before the game how he was pushing his young, lottery-bound team.
– “I learned a difficult principle a while ago that ‘Everything you want is on the other side of difficult,’” he said. “Sometimes we avoid hard, or we want to get out of it. Most of the time, that’s where the good stuff is if you can just stay with it and get to the other side.
– The Pistons honored their 2004 NBA champion team at halftime.
– With Lakers coach Darvin Ham traveling the country between West Coast games to make it happen.
– “We loved playing for you every night. What we did on the field epitomized what you did every night. We love you all and thank you for your support,” Blazers coach and former Pistons guard Chauncey Blllups told the crowd.
