MIAMI -- It took until late in the third quarter, but the Detroit Pistons were able to dispatch a bad Miami Heat team.
And that was before Goran Dragic, Hassan Whiteside and Dion Waiters were ruled out.
Detroit used a 10-2 run to close the third and scored six straight points in the fourth to crawl past the Heat, 107-98, Sunday at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Reggie Jackson scored a team-high 27 points and Andre Drummond added 25 for the Pistons, who surrendered 66 first-half points and trailed by eight at halftime.
But they kicked up the defensive intensity in the second half, holding Miami to 15 points in the third quarter and scoreless in the first 5:05 of the fourth quarter.