Detroit Pistons extend lead over Miami Heat for a playoff spot.

The Detroit Pistons extend their lead for a playoff spot as they crush the Miami Heat 119 to 96 in a huge season series game.

The Detroit Pistons come off nail-biting a win Friday night against the Atlanta Hawks. They traveled to Miami to take on the heat on a second night of a back to back.

The Miami Heat on the other hand came off a late-game loss to the 76ers on Thursday. They were looking to bounce back against the Pistons. But they would have to do this without forward Justise Winslow and James Johnson.

This game had many implications of becoming a huge for whichever team that took home the win. The Miami Heat before tonight were one game behind Detroit for the 8th seed. The series overall before tonight was tied at 1 to 1.

Potential tie breakers for a playoff spot is huge. Both teams were destined to come into tonight looking to make a statement; right?

Wrong. The game started slow-paced and low scoring for both teams.  It took 6 minutes for a team to break double digits in the first quarter. The pace would eventually pickup as Miami took a 9 point lead into the second quarter.

With the starters not being able to produce points, the Pistons needed the bench to step up and find some sort of offense. And that they did. Ish Smith and Luke Kennard came up huge in the second quarter. They sparked an early comeback so that the Pistons can take a 54 to 46 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter the Pistons were almost looking to run away with the game. At one point taking a 15 point lead; Kelly Olynyk helped the Miami Heat stay in the game; pulling the game back within 6.

Again the Pistons needed the bench to step up and build on the Pistons lead. Again they did. Ish Smith could not be stopped. He was scoring, dishing the ball, and couldn’t miss.

The trio of Luke Kennard, Ish Smith, and Langston Galloway; yes Langston Galloway, helped extend the Pistons lead from 8 points to end the third to as many as 25 points in the fourth.

Langston, who has been struggling for a recent stretch, found his shot tonight. He scored 17 points on 6 for 7 shooting. Luke also contributed with 17 on 6 for 11 shooting. And Ish Smith, probably the Pistons MVP tonight, scored 22 points and 9 assists to help give the Pistons a win.

The bench scored 66 points tonight. The last time they scored over 40 points was February 4th against the Nuggets.

After tonight’s win; The Pistons take a 2 game lead over the Heat and move up in the standings to the 7th seed after a Charlotte Hornets loss. The Pistons are also 1.5 games behind Brooklyn for the 6th seed.

Key Notes

Andre Drummond only attempted 6 field goals tonight. He scored 12 points and 14 rebounds. His impact came from the defensive end. He had 4 blocks and one steal.

Reggie Jackson played 22 minutes tonight. With Ish Smith playing well, he got a well deserved rest. He scored 13 points.

Thon Maker dropped 2 threes in for the Pistons.

Blake Griffin scored 20 points and was doing just about everything with 6 assists and 4 rebounds.

Detroit shot 42 percent (14 for 33) from three tonight.