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Bynum, Pistons top Heat

Dec 29, 2012 - 6:36 AM Auburn Hills, MI (Sports Network) - Will Bynum dropped in 25 points on 10- of-16 shooting to go with 10 assists as the Detroit Pistons knocked off the Miami Heat, 109-99, at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Friday.

Charlie Villanueva netted 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting and pulled down six boards, while rookie Kyle Singler added 12 points and five boards for the Pistons, who have won three of their last four.

Austin Daye hit 4-of-5 shots from the floor for 11 points and Tayshaun Prince also donated 11 points to the victory.

"It's uplifting for guys like myself, who have been buried, to come out and contribute to a big time win like this," Bynum said.

LeBron James scored a game-high 35 points with six rebounds, five assists and six steals for Miami, which had a seven-game winning streak against the Pistons broken. Chris Bosh added 28 points and nine boards in the loss.

The defending champions played without star guard Dwyane Wade, who was suspended for striking Charlotte Bobcats guard Ramon Sessions in the groin during Wednesday's 105-92 victory.

After a first quarter which was completely dominated by the Heat, Detroit got back in the game with a huge second quarter. The hosts opened the frame with a 14-0 run to cut a 15-point deficit to one before finally snagging a 41-39 lead on a Villanueva trey with 5:57 to play in the half.

The Pistons outscored Miami by a 41-20 margin in the second session and held a surprising 58-52 lead at the half.

Detroit maintained a comfortable lead throughout the third quarter, and a putback layup by Monroe gave the Pistons their largest lead of the night at 76-59 with 4:51 to go in the period.

The Heat responded with a 10-2 surge to slice the deficit to 78-69 with two minutes to play in the frame, but the Pistons held an 81-71 edge heading into the final quarter.

Miami opened the fourth with six consecutive points to cut the deficit to four, but the Pistons had an answer in the form of a 9-0 run capped by a Prince jumper to push the lead back to 90-77 with 8:11 to play.

The Heat got close again, as a trey from Ray Allen made it 90-84 with 6:31 to go, but Bynum canned a deep deuce and Villanueva followed with a 3-ball from the top of the arc on the next Pistons' possession to widen the advantage to 11 with 5:29 remaining.

Miami could not get closer than eight points down the rest of the way as Detroit held on for the win.

"They played really well and we couldn't get into any kind of defensive rhythm," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "There are no excuses. Sure, we would have been a different team with Dwyane, but different guys have to step up."

Miami did get off to a fast start, hitting four of its first five shots to build a quick 10-0 advantage. Detroit answered with six straight points to cut the deficit to four with 7:54 on the first-quarter clock, but it was all Miami for the remainder of the frame.

The Heat ripped off 13 straight points to widen the lead to 23-10 with 4:13 to go in the first quarter. They also shot an outstanding 14-of-20 from the floor in the frame and led by a comfortable 32-17 margin after one.

Game Notes

James recorded his seventh 30-plus point game of the season ... Miami shot 50.6 percent from the floor, but allowed the Pistons' bench to put up 64 points while only receiving 20 points from its reserves ... Detroit shot an impressive 12-of-19 from 3-point range ... Miami allowed 100 points or more for the first time in its past nine contests.