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New-look Pistons beat Heat, 87-83

Oct 6, 2009 - 3:40 AM AUBURN HILLS, Mich.(AP) -- Austin Daye's physique has always drawn comparisons to Tayshaun Prince.

It only took the Detroit Pistons rookie two quarters to bring Prince's most famous moment to mind.

In the second quarter of Detroit's 87-83 preseason victory over Miami, Daye ran down Dwyane Wade to block what appeared to be an uncontested layup - a play very similar to Prince's game-winning block of Indiana's Reggie Miller in the 2004 playoffs.

"That was one of the greatest blocks of all time, and I know, because I was here," said new Pistons coach John Kuester, who was one of Larry Brown's assistant as the Pistons won the 2004 title. "This one was obviously in a different environment, but it still shows what kind of player Austin can be."

Wade was the first to congratulate Daye for the play and later joked with Prince about it during a stoppage in play.

"He told me 'nice hustle' after I blocked it," Daye said. "I had just turned the ball over, so I was trying to make up for it by getting back on defense. I guess Detroit is the perfect environment for the fans to appreciate a play like that."

Daye's play highlighted a successful night for the new-look Pistons. Ben Wallace, returning after three seasons away, scored Detroit's first points on a put-back dunk, and newcomers Ben Gordon and Chris Wilcox both scored 11 points.

"This is a work in progress, and we've only had 10 practices," Kuester said. "Still, no matter what the situation is, you want to win games."

Wade led Miami with 18 points in 26 minutes, but wasn't happy with Miami's defense, which allowed the Pistons to shoot 47.6 percent from the floor.

"There are some things that we need to work on," Wade said. "We've got to communicate better - we have to make it tougher for them to get to the basket. That's what got us behind."

The Pistons led by as many as 17 in the second half, but Miami came back in the fourth quarter. John Lucas missed a go-ahead 3-pointer and a tying jumper in the final 30 seconds.

"We were sloppy, and we didn't play with a lot of energy until the fourth quarter," said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. "We'll make adjustments, but we've been playing much harder in camp, and I would have liked to see that tonight."

The Heat comeback was helped by a mistake by the replacement officials with 1:21 left. Will Bynum made two free throws to apparently put Detroit up 87-78, but the Miami players pointed out that Bynum hadn't been fouled on the play.

After a discussion, the points were correctly taken off the board and Maceo Baston was sent to the line, where he missed both shots.

The officials had a couple other rough moments. They did not blow the play dead when Wallace shot an airball from the free-throw line in the first quarter, and they delayed the game for several minutes after a scuffle between Pistons rookie Jonas Jerebko and Jamaal Magloire in the fourth.

After a lengthy huddle, they announced that Jerebko would be ejected for throwing a punch, then reviewed the replay and huddled again as Spoelstra urged them to make a decision. The final decision was to throw both players out of the game.

"I thought the officials did a good job," Kuester said. "The calls were balanced and they worked hard. Everyone needs to keep in mind that this was their first preseason game, too."