The Miami Heat are a much better team on the road and look to maintain that distinction Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons.
The Heat are 13-11 in foreign arenas, as opposed to an 8-15 home mark, and opened a four-game jaunt with Sunday's 83-75 win over the Boston Celtics. Hassan Whiteside posted 20 points and nine rebounds, and Chris Bosh scored 18 points.
Miami had a 25-15 lead after the first quarter and pushed the advantage to 44-31 at the break. The Celtics rallied to pull within 61-59, but the visitors scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter and rolled to a third win in five tries.
Boston scored a season low in points and shot 37 percent. Miami was not much better in making 41.6 percent from the floor and allowed no more than 16 points in three of the four quarters.
"It was good to see us grind out an 'ugly game.' Those are wins we like to get," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
The Heat, who are 20-2 when leading after three quarters, have scored 100 or more points just twice since Dec. 31 (15 games). The defense has been better, holding 14 of the past 15 opponents under 50 percent shooting.
Whiteside has boosted some life into the Heat after the calendar turned and is posting 13.6 points and 10.5 rebounds in 12 games (6 starts). He has six double-doubles in the past 11.
Bosh is three blocks shy of 900 in his career and guard Mario Chalmers is one game short of passing Keith Askins (486) for fourth on the franchise's all- time games played list. Dwyane Wade, who is out with a hamstring injury, is at the top of the list with 754 games, followed by Udonis Haslem (747) and Alonzo Mourning (593).
Heat forward Luol Deng (calf) has missed three straight games and is probable Tuesday.
Miami still has stops in Minnesota and San Antonio on this road trip.
The Pistons were able to snap a four-game losing streak with a 114-101 victory versus the Houston Rockets on Saturday at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Josh Smith missed eight of 11 shots while scoring just seven points in his first game against the Pistons since they waived him in December.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and D.J. Augustin each scored 28 points, and Augustin handed out a season-high 12 assists for the Pistons, who shot 50 percent for the game and were able to shut down one of the NBA's top-scoring teams.
"We needed this win; it was a big win against a good team," Augustin said. "It just builds our confidence and lets us know if we stick together and stay with it, we can beat any team in the league."
Greg Monroe had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Andre Drummond finished with 11 points and 16 boards in the win. Detroit used an 11-2 run late in the first half for a 56-41 advantage, which eventually reached a game-high 21 points at 86-65. Houston later made it 92-88 midway through the fourth quarter, but the Pistons held on.
Detroit is 8-16 at home and will play the Heat two more times on March 29 and April 4. The Heat went 3-1 against the Pistons last season and have won 17 of the last 20 games in this series. They are 9-1 in the past 10 trips to The Palace.
Drummond averaged 12.5 points and 14.5 rebounds against the Heat last season, while Bosh posted an average of 15.5 ppg.
[SportsNetwork.com]
