Heat rally in fourth to knock off Pistons

3/24/2011
ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Heat-rally-in-fourth-to-knock-off-Pistons

    Detroit's Chris Wilcox, left, and Greg Monroe, try to steal the ball from Miami's Eric Dampier in last night's game.

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    AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Dwyane Wade scored 24 points and Chris Bosh added 23 to help the Miami Heat rally for a 100-94 win over the Detroit Pistons Wednesday night.

    LeBron James had 19 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists for Miami, which has won six of seven following a five-game losing streak.

    The Heat trailed by 11 late in the third quarter before Mike Miller made a 3-pointer in the final seconds.

    Miami then scored the first 15 points of the fourth to take an 88-81 lead.

    Detroit had the ball down by four in the final minute, but Greg Monroe missed a layup, forcing the Pistons to foul.

    Richard Hamilton led Detroit with 27 points.

    Hamilton made back-to-back 3-pointers from the same spot in the left corner late in the third to give the Pistons a 78-70 lead. Mike Bibby appeared to answer with a 3-pointer of his own with the shot clock running out, but the Miami guard's shot ended up being disallowed between quarters.

    Detroit led 81-73 after three, but went scoreless until Tracy McGrady made a shot from the top of the key with 6:25 left in the game.

    Detroit committed two defensive 3-second violations in the first 1:13 of the fourth, and when James made a 3-pointer followed by a left-handed layup, the Heat had an 82-81 advantage -- their first lead since 8-7.

    Rodney Stuckey fired up the crowd a bit with a one-handed dunk on a drive through the lane for Detroit, but James did him one better shortly after that, throwing down an emphatic right-handed dunk off a pass from Wade to make it 94-85.

    In his previous game at Detroit, James made news by taking a heckler to task early in Miami's win over the Pistons.

    The focus was on the court this time, and although James wasn't at his best, the Heat had enough offensive balance to pull through once they started shutting down Detroit early in the final quarter.

    Bibby made his first start for Miami in his 11th game with the team, scoring five points.

    Miller finished with 13 points for Miami.

    Monroe had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Pistons, while Tayshaun Prince added 13 points, and Chris Wilcox scored 10.

    NOTES: Detroit's Ben Wallace missed the game because of a sore left knee.... Wilcox started at center for the Pistons in the team's 20th different starting lineup of the season.