By ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT (AP) — Norman Powell scored 36 points and Bam Abdebayo added 15 points and 14 rebounds as the Miami Heat extended their winning streak to four games with a 118-112 win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night, Jan. 1.
Cade Cunningham had 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for Detroit and Marcus Sasser scored 18.
Detroit trailed by 22 in the second half and was still down 114-103 with two minutes left, but scored six straight points to make it a five-point game. Powell missed and Javonte Green hit a 3-pointer to get the Pistons within two with 46.4 seconds to play.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. hit a short jumper to make it a two-possession game, though, and Ausar Thompson’s turnover forced the Pistons to start fouling. Powell hit a pair of free throws — his first points of the fourth quarter — to clinch it.
Jaquez scored 19 points for the Heat and Andrew Wiggins added 17.
The Pistons can usually overcome their outside shooting struggles by dominating the offensive glass, but that didn’t happen in the first half. Miami pulled down 22 of 24 defensive rebound chances and held Detroit to 20% (2 for 10) on 3-pointers.
Powell finished the half with 19 points, including 5 of 8 on 3-pointers, as Miami took a 63-54 lead.
The Heat opened the third quarter with a 15-2 run to take a 22-point lead. Detroit missed its first seven shots and turned the ball over twice. The Pistons reserves cut the deficit to 94-81 at the end of the quarter, led by six points and five rebounds from Paul Reed.
Sasser’s outside shooting got Detroit within 98-92 with 9:09 left, but the Pistons struggled to get enough stops for a big run.
Meanwhile, Kawhi Leonard scored 45 points, James Harden added 20 and the Los Angeles Clippers recovered from blowing a 21-point lead to beat the Utah Jazz on 118-101, extending their winning streak to a season-best six games.
Leonard was the only Clippers starter on the floor for much of the fourth quarter. He singlehandedly matched Utah’s points in the period (20), with blood on his nose from what appeared to be a scratch.
Los Angeles hit seven straight 3-pointers, with Leonard making four, to pull away. Nicolas Batum finished with 14 points and went 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
The Jazz rallied despite being without three starters. They were led by reserve Kyle Anderson with 22 points — his first 20-point game in nearly three years — and Brice Sensabaugh with 20. Anderson’s eight rebounds were a season high. Cody Williams also had 18 points, while Isaiah Collier had 16 points and 10 assists.
The game was tied six times in the third, when Utah took its first lead of the game.
The Clippers outscored Utah 28-7 to start the game. The Jazz missed their first six shots and had one rebound in the first six minutes.
Utah outscored the Clippers 33-22 in the second — when Leonard scored LA’s first nine points — to trail 53-50 at halftime.
Utah played without Keyonte George (illness), Lauri Markkanen (knee) and Jusuf Nurkic (toe). The Jazz have dropped six of eight.
The Jazz had 58 points in the paint and their bench outscored the Clippers’ reserves 51-40.
