The Miami Heat earned a narrow road win at Minnesota on Sunday, ending a three-game losing streak and giving them a boost heading into their NBA Cup opener against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night.
Both teams will begin group play in the NBA Cup with this game. Miami and Detroit are in East Group B, which also includes the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Toronto Raptors.
Nikola Jovic’s three-point play with just 7.8 seconds left helped the Heat secure a 95-94 victory over the Timberwolves. Miami had lost their previous three games to Sacramento, Phoenix, and Denver before Sunday’s exciting win.
The Heat were down 88-80 with under five minutes left in the game. “That was a signature win for us,” said Heat center Bam Adebayo. After a timeout, Duncan Robinson passed the ball to Jovic, who made a great cut off a screen to get open for the crucial play.
“It is extremely difficult to generate an open shot on a side out of bounds, particularly against a team that is well coached, they have great length,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “So we were just fortunate. Duncan made a great pass, Niko made a great cut.”
Tyler Herro has been leading the Heat’s offense, scoring the most points in the last four games with an average of 26.3 points. But the biggest improvement on Sunday was their defense. Minnesota’s 94 points were the fewest Miami has allowed this season.
“This is the hardest we’ve played in any of the regular-season games this season,” Spoelstra said. “It’s the message we tell our team all the time, that does not guarantee you anything. It doesn’t. But you put yourself out there as a competitor, you give yourself the best collective chance to win in a tough building.”
Miami played without Jimmy Butler, who sprained his right ankle against the Nuggets. There’s a good chance he will miss Tuesday’s game as well.
The Pistons’ last three games have been close, with all of them coming down to the final seconds. They lost to the Houston Rockets 101-99 on Sunday.
Tobias Harris had a chance to tie the game with two free throws in the last second, but he missed the first one and intentionally missed the second, hoping for a tip-in rebound.
“Obviously that’s tough, but we trust Tobias to knock his free throws down,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “He just missed it.”
Detroit struggled with rebounding, allowing Houston to grab 17 offensive boards, including some crucial ones late in the game.
“I thought our guys did a great job in the scrap; there were times when they beat us to the ball, which is what they’ve done and what’s helped them win basketball games,” Bickerstaff said. “I thought our guys fought the fight. We gave ourselves an opportunity, but (seven) offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter; it’s just too tough to overcome.”
Cade Cunningham’s streak of three consecutive triple-doubles ended, though he nearly kept it going, finishing with 26 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists.
The Pistons received good news on Monday when second-year forward Ausar Thompson was cleared to play after dealing with blood clot issues. However, it may be difficult for him to break into the rotation Bickerstaff has used through the first 11 games.
