Ish Smith scores 25 as Pistons douse Heat 111-107

The shortest player on the floor had the largest impact Saturday night. Ish Smith finished with 25 points, seven assists and four rebounds to lead the Detroit Pistons (25-26) to a 111-107 victory over the Miami Heat (29-24). Detroit is now 3-0 since trading for Blake Griffin on Jan. 29.

A point guard’s job is to set up scoring opportunities for his teammates.

But it seemed fitting that forward Blake Griffin deferred the role of hero to his primary ball handler.

Ish Smith‘s corner triple with 14.1 seconds to play served as the dagger in the Detroit Pistons’ 111-107 win over the Miami Heat on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena. Smith led Detroit with 25 points, seven assists and four rebounds.

Seven Pistons scored in double figures, including Andre Drummond, who posted 23 points and 20 rebounds. Griffin finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

Neither team was able to pull away from the other all night. The Pistons held a 27-26 lead at the end of the first quarter. But a James Johnson jumper with 11:40 to play in the half fueled an 8-0 run for the Heat. Detroit would regain the lead 54-50 by halftime.

Miami guard Goran Dragic scored 15 of his game-high 33 points in the third quarter. He sank a number of midrange jump shots against a Pistons’ defense that struggled to close out. The Heat took a 77-76 lead into the fourth quarter.

But Detroit responded with an 8-0 run of their own. Drummond’s alley-oop layup from Smith with 10:05 to go forced Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra to call a timeout.

Miami slowly chipped away, and Wayne Ellington‘s 3-point shot at the 4:16 mark gave the Heat a 99-96 advantage. Detroit would regain the lead 103-101 on Smith’s step back jumper with 2:33 remaining.

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The Heat couldn’t recover, and Griffin found Smith open in the right corner to cap the Pistons’ third straight victory.

Detroit is idle until Monday night when they host the Portland Trail Blazers. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. on Fox Sports Detroit.