Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET the Miami Heat (14-3), winners of 10 straight games, will host the massive frontline of the Detroit Pistons (7-10) at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami. Live stream the game here; Pistons fans can listen to the game on 97.1 FM The Ticket, while Heat fans can hear the action on 560 WQAM.
The Heat ride the greatness of LeBron James night after night, but they also require big contributions at times from unlikely role players, as well as unique additions from bigger stars.
Against the Charlotte Bobcats the latter was in play, as power forward Chris Bosh nailed a career-high three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, en route to 13 straight points. "It kind of just happened," Bosh said. "I was wide open so I figured I would take a step back and in the words of our late teammate Mike Miller, 'let it fly.' That was really it."
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was not surprised by the barrage of treys from Bosh, and said drilling 3-pointers is a team-wide philosophy. "We have no problem shooting wide-open looks," Spoelstra said. "(Bosh) has been putting a lot of time in, before and after practice. Once he hit the first one, the second one, you could tell he wanted it."
Miami's biggest vulnerability, however, is big centers. The Pistons have one in Andre Drummond, who is coming off a career-best performance in a victory over Philadelphia. Drummond compiled 31 points, 19 rebounds and six steals in the win; Miami doesn't appear to have the size readily available to stop Drummond if he's playing at that level.
"It was a great team win," Drummond said. "For me, it was a good game for me; played well. I was in the right spots at the right times." Miami may just foul him to throw him off his game. Drummond's making a paltry 32 percent of his foul shots this season.
"Andre's a great young player, but I told him tonight that he needs to learn from this," coach Maurice Cheeks said. "If he becomes a better free-throw shooter, no one will be able to knock him out of a game."
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.