The Miami Heat picked up a 99-93 win over the Detroit Pistons in the penultimate game of the regular season on Tuesday. What he does next shows why he’s earned his reputation as such a tough competitor. He stayed in the game for a couple more minutes until Dwyane Wade subbed in for him. Tobias Harris also scored 16 points and Andre Drummond chipped in nine while grabbing 18 rebounds. He had 10 points (4-for-7 shooting), seven assists and three turnovers in 32 minutes. “We have different guys we can go to, to take over or make plays, to be aggressive, and tonight was Joe’s night”.
Advertisement
Detroit Pistons head coach hasn’t been interested in giving his opinion on whether he’d rather face the Cleveland Cavaliers or Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs.
They couldn’t have done it without Johnson, who collected his third 20-point outing since joining the club.
Detroit will play its final game Wednesday against Cleveland. Dragic’s scoring average has improved in every month since he lost the tooth, so getting rid of this one is probably playoffs preparedness maneuver.
A pair of 3-pointers midway through the fourth quarter from Joe Johnson proved critical for the Heat on a night the Heat were without injured rookie forward Justise Winslow, saw Goran Dragic forced to play through foul trouble and dealt with significant foul issues through the first three periods. Ian Mahinmi added 14 points, Myles Turner had 13 and Rodney Stuckey scored 10 for Indiana. These two teams last met on April 5 and it was the Heat who won by 107-89 behind 22 points from Dragic and while I’m expecting a closer game, I’m once again taking the Heat to pull away late and come out with the important win tonight. But Johnson is the most versatile player off of Van Gundy’s bench and he flashed encouraging signs against Miami, including a knifing steal he converted into a layup in traffic and a good find for an Aron Baynes layup in the fourth quarter.
That means the Pistons draw the Eastern Conference regular season champion Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round – perhaps fitting considering the Cavaliers were the opponent the last time the Pistons made the playoffs back in 2009.
Advertisement
Detroit is 2-1 on the season vs. Miami.
