Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Bam Adebayo buried the Pistons at the horn

Despite a surge from the European Union- Evan Fournier (France) and Simone Fontecchio (Italy)- and the hosts smothering the Heat’s offense late, Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson carried the crew to the finish line. Adebayo logged his 34th double-double of the campaign, and Robinson became the fastest player in NBA history to hit 1,000 triples in the regular season as the Heat took out the Pistons, going 2-0 in the weekend miniseries in Detroit.

The Heat was missing Tyler Herro (foot), Kevin Love (heel), Nikola Jović (hamstring) and Jimmy Butler (foot). Ausar Thomspson (illness) and Quentin Grimes (knee) were absent for the Pistons.

Adebayo, Robinson, Terry Rozier and Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored the Heat’s first 13 points in three-and-a-half opening minutes, but the offense chilled, misfiring on six straight looks from short and long-range against man-to-man coverage. Adebayo’s fake handoff on the right side, resulting in a layup, plus triples from Robinson and Caleb Martin closed the quarter.

On the other side, the hosts missed its initial three looks but kept attacking the Heat’s heart, having five Pistons score in the paint.

Through the first frame, the Heat scored 21 points on nine of 24 attempts. The Pistons had 23, making 40.9% of ventures.

Next, Cade Cunnigham hit a step-back jumper over Rozier on the baseline, spun past Haywood Highsmith in the paint and busted the guests’ 2-3 zone twice by driving into the middle. Four Pistons also connected on a 3-pointer, and Ivey added seven points. This was going on as home defense was getting obliterated.

Robinson cut inside for a finger roll layup, got into the lane against drop coverage, hitting a floater and nailed three triples, totaling 15 points. Rozier dished out four helpings, hit two transition baskets and made a pull-up tray on the left side over Fontecchio. And the rest of the Heat recorded seven of 14 buckets to end the interval, snatching control.

At halftime, the Heat was ahead 60-50 and up on the glass by three. The squad provided 32 paint points, eight on the break, nine via second chances, nine after turnovers and 16 from the bench.

Robinson had 21 points on seven of nine attempts, with three rebounds and two assists. Rozier tallied 11 marks with five rebounds and five assists. Adebayo and Martin dispensed eight points apiece.

The Pistons had 20 interior points, seven in the open court, five on extra tries, eight after turnovers and 15 from the reserves.

Ivey was the high Piston with 10 points on four of seven attempts and distributed two assists. Cunningham and Fontecchio each had eight points. And Fournier contributed seven to the scoreboard.

Then the Heat made five straight shots and its lead climbed to 17. Next, the Pistons’ raised its RPMs defensively, forcing four turnovers and causing a drought for Adebayo and Co. in the last five-and-a-half minutes of the third. After the Heat’s baskets to start the frame, it made just two of 13 shots.

On the other side, Jalen Duren rim rolled for two dunks and put back Cunningham’s missed wing triple. Fontecchio curled to the left elbow, canning a jumper above Robinson and Martin, plus dribbled past Highsmith from the top to the cup for a layup. And Stanley Umude swished two right-side 3-pointers.

The fourth quarter began with the Heat ahead 79-76. Adebayo zoomed by James Wiseman on the left side and dunked over him, but he didn’t score again for two-and-a-half minutes as the group misfired six straight times. Subsequently, he tipped in his Martin’s failed corner triple and rim rolled, jamming on Isaiah Stewart.

On the following possessions, Robinson splashed a left-corner three with Fontecchio breathing on him and set up JJJ for an inside cut and score, putting the group up five with three minutes left.

But the Pistons desperately wanted its 13th win and retaliated. Duren caught an inside pass against the zone and was fouled. He made one of two freebies.

After Rozier’s unwise early missed triple with nine seconds on the shot clock, Cunningham hit a step-back top-of-the-key bomb over his counterpart. The Pistons were down a point.

Robinson then made a left-wing triple plus the freebie after Fontecchio entered his landing space. The Heat were back up by five.

A couple of possessions later, JJJ sagged off Stewart in the corner. Adebayo was in the backline ready to offer help on Cunningham, but they got burned by a corner triple. On the succeeding play, the Heat was forced into a 24-second violation, and afterward, Cunningham isolated Martin from the top to the cup for a layup to tie.

The Heat got the ball back, but as Robinson dribbled into the middle, absorbing an extra defender, Fournier picked off his pass, and the Pistons reset with Cunningham up top with only the game clock running. Then, Cunningham half-wittedly, as the game was tied at 101 and there were 10 seconds left, fired an unsuccessful 3-pointer. Rozier picked up the miss, found Adebayo trailing in transition, and the big man iced the game with a top-of-the-key banger at the horn. It was the 12th triple of his career and fourth of the season.

The Heat won 104-101 and ended ahead on the glass by five. The squad had 50 paint points, nine on the break, 13 via second chances, 19 after turnovers and 19 from the bench.

Robinson had 30 points on 10 of 15 shots with four rebounds and five assists. Adebayo logged 20 on his scorecard on 69.2% shooting, plus 17 rebounds, three assists and one steal. Rozier supplied 17 points, nine assists and six rebounds. JJJ had 15 on his ledger with three rebounds, four assists, a block and one steal.

The Pistons finished with 34 paint points, seven in the open court, seven on extra tries, 13 after turnovers and 38 from the reserves.

Evan Fournier scored 18 off the bench on 42.9% shooting and had four rebounds, one dime and three steals. Cunningham produced 17 points, making eight of 19 attempts, with nine assists and four rebounds. And Fontecchio had 13 points and recovered eight boards.

Robinson handled the on-court interview. He said, “I’m very thankful for Bam. I turned the ball over there at the end, which I’ll be kicking myself over, regardless, but for him to come and make that shot, that was huge… Thank goodness for Bam.”

At the postgame presser, coach Erik Spoelstra said, “Was I anticipating [the last shot] being a Bam trail three? No.” He also mentioned that Adebayo has won the last few shooting contests he’s seen in practice among the bigs on the squad.

Adebayo was asked about the game-winner in the locker room. He said, “It was a great moment for us as a team. It’s hard trying to beat a team back-to-back. That’s the prep that we need for the Playoffs.”

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