The Pistons kept rolling Friday night in Miami, but the scoreboard came with a hefty injury bill.
Detroit beat the Heat 128-111 at Kaseya Center, yet another scare hit in the second half when Ausar Thompson slipped, went down in pain and headed for the locker room midway through the third quarter after tweaking his right ankle.
The play came with 6:37 left in the third. Thompson rolled the ankle after stepping on Heat forward Andrew Wiggins' heel as Wiggins scored and was fouled by the Pistons (2-0). He stayed on the floor for several seconds before eventually limping off, with Detroit holding a 16-point lead.
By that point, Thompson had put together a solid line: four points, four assists, three rebounds and a steal. One of those steals was a rip of Antetokounmpo minutes earlier that turned into an alley-oop assist to Cade Cunningham.
Ron Holland checked in for Thompson, and the Pistons kept separating, taking a 103-80 lead into the fourth.
Detroit had already been forced to adjust earlier in the game after Jalen Duren left in the second quarter with a right thigh injury. Paul Reed stepped into his spot at center.
Duren exited after driving downhill against Heat superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, appearing to tweak something and then grabbing the area behind his right knee with 6:45 left in the second. He walked to the locker room immediately and was later downgraded to "questionable" with a right thigh injury.
Before leaving, Duren had been off to a strong start with four points, six rebounds and three assists in 10 minutes.
The Pistons now continue their three-game road trip Sunday night in Philadelphia.
In Other News...
Pistons Have A New Answer For The Defense That Buried Them
The next test for Detroit comes against a Miami defense built around length, timing, and two elite rim protectors in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo. That kind of front-line resistance has given the Pistons problems before, and it is part of why the team spent this season reshaping its roster to bring in more shooting and take some of the burden off Cade Cunningham.
The idea is simple enough: stretch the floor, force defenders to honor the perimeter, and make the lane a little less crowded when Cunningham gets downhill. Detroit believes that added spacing can create a more balanced offense than it had last season, and games like this should show whether the new look can hold up when the paint gets protected and every possession gets tighter. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons May Have A Smart Miami Counter Fans Need To Watch
The Pistons matchup with Miami brings an interesting layer of familiarity, because Duncan Robinson knows exactly how the Heat like to operate after spending much of his career there. Detroits plan is built around his movement without the ball, using that constant motion to create openings and force Miami to react instead of dictate. It is the kind of subtle tactical wrinkle that can matter in a game where both sides are looking for small advantages.
Miami, of course, will have its own ideas about how to handle Robinson, and the same goes for Detroit when it comes to protecting its own defensive soft spots. The back-and-forth could become a chess match of coverages and counters, with each team trying to steer attention away from the matchups it would rather not expose. If the Heat start tilting extra help toward Robinson, the Pistons will have a chance to make that decision costly. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Face An Early Frontcourt Test Against Miami
John Collins first night in a Pistons uniform offered an early reminder of why Detroit will have to be careful how it deploys him. Against Boston, he had a rough defensive debut, and the problems were there against a mix of perimeter skill and interior size, the kind of matchup that can expose a player caught between positions. For a team trying to sort out its frontcourt on the fly, that makes the next test feel especially relevant.
Miami brings a different kind of problem, and one that could force Detroit to think differently about its rotation and matchups. The Heat can lean on Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, and both present the sort of physical challenges that can drag a tweener out of his comfort zone. However the Pistons choose to handle it, this is the kind of early-season game that can reveal whether the coaching staff has a workable plan for Collins or whether more adjustments are still coming. [Read more 🡒]