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Heat put playoff hopes on line at Pistons

Apr 4, 2015 - 1:33 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Miami Heat will try to continue their push to the postseason Saturday night when they visit The Palace of Auburn Hills to face the Detroit Pistons.

The Heat are eighth in the Eastern Conference standings, one game behind Brooklyn, a half-game ahead of Boston, 1 1/2 games in front of Indiana and two clear of Charlotte with seven games to go.

Miami has lost two straight to fall from the seventh seed, where it was earlier this week.

After a 14-point home loss in a rematch of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, the Heat fell to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, 114-88, Thursday night at Quicken Loans Arena.

James posted 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists against his former team.

Luol Deng and Hassan Whiteside scored 17 points apiece for Miami, which lost star guard Dwyane Wade to a left knee injury in the second quarter.

"I hit the inside of my knee on the ground," Wade said. "That's all I feel right now. I don't know what I'm going to wake up with, but right now I just feel the pain on the inside of my knee where I hit the court."

Wade is listed as questionable tonight and averaging 21.4 ppg.

Miami scored seven straight in the first to claim an early edge, but Cleveland took the lead for good on a short James jumper not long after. Kyrie Irving followed with a triple, and the Cavs used runs of 7-0 and 8-2 over the next six-plus minutes of game time to create some distance.

The Heat travel to Indianapolis on Sunday to face the Pacers in the finale of this three-game trek.

Detroit will begin its final homestand of the season Saturday, a four-game stay versus Miami, Boston, Indiana and Charlotte. The Pistons have won four in a row at The Palace.

The Pistons have lost two straight and three of four games, including Friday's 88-82 setback in Chicago. Pau Gasol's three-point play with 5.7 seconds left helped the Bulls prevail.

Andre Drummond's personal 4-0 spurt had the Pistons within 83-82 with 30.9 seconds remaining. Taj Gibson missed a jumper for the Bulls, but Gasol was there for the putback slam. Gasol was fouled on the play and made the ensuing free throw to secure the victory.

Reggie Jackson tallied 22 points and nine assists for the Pistons, who scored only nine points in the second quarter. Drummond and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope each contributed 14 points, with Drummond also pulling down 22 rebounds.

"We fought hard to get back in it," Detroit coach Stan van Gundy said. "We had our chances."

The Pistons are 5 1/2 games behind the Heat for the No. 8 spot in the East and will most likely miss out on a playoff berth for a sixth year in a row.

Miami has won four of the last five against the Pistons and is 9-2 in the last 11 in Motown.