Herro, Lowry fuel late Heat run to push past Pistons 115-112

It took several big plays down the stretch courtesy of Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro and yes even Udonis Haslem to seal the Miami Heat’s 115-112 win over the lowly Detroit Pistons on Thursday night at the FTX Arena.

Along the way center Dewayne Dedmon became the latest Heat player to go down with an injury, which required minutes from Miami’s longtime captain Mr. 305 himself. UD had some big moments with seven points in the third quarter, with the 41-year-old forward out-hustling the much younger Pistons players coming up with big rebounds and some timely baskets. He also grabbed the game-ending rebound after the Pistons had one last chance to tie it with a Cory Joseph 3-point attempt. Haslem finished with a season-high seven points and five rebounds in 12 minutes.

After playing the Heat (who were at full strength at the time) closely in their first matchup of the season and recently beating them at home, the Pistons once again matched up well despite missing several players themselves — including the No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham who was placed in the league’s health and safety protocols along with teammates Isaiah Stewart, Killian Hayes, Saben Lee and Rodney McGruder. Their leading scorer Jerami Grant missed his sixth straight game with a right thumb sprain.

Miami wouldn’t get their first lead since the first quarter until the second half, and even then Detroit kept answering each Heat run and retaking the lead — at one point increasing their lead to 14 points in the third quarter. The team needed Lowry, Herro and Max Strus to make several big plays in crunch time to finally put the NBA’s worst team away, including a ridiculous 3-pointer from Herro at the end of the shot clock from a botched play.

Lowry was spectacular when the Heat needed him the most, at one point scoring seven straight points. He was able to penetrate and finish at the rim while playing aggressively on both ends of the floor.

Just like they had throughout the game, the Pistons kept coming back but Strus would make the biggest shot of the night to grab the much needed win — their sixth in their last eight games to help push them to No. 3 in the East.

Herro led the team tonight with 29 points off the bench and also grabbed four rebounds and dished four assists while Strus had 26 points with five 3-pointers made. Lowry finished with 21 points, six assists and four rebounds. Gabe Vincent also had another strong game with 15 points, seven assists and four rebounds.

Miami next will host the Orlando Magic on Sunday at 3:30pm.