By TIM REYNOLDS ADVERTISING By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer MIAMI — It was just a game, not a playoff series. Still, Brandon Jennings finally got a long-awaited win over the Miami Heat. And he made the two biggest plays
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
MIAMI — It was just a game, not a playoff series. Still, Brandon Jennings finally got a long-awaited win over the Miami Heat.
And he made the two biggest plays to get it done.
Jennings made a deep, well-covered 3-pointer to snuff out one Miami rally with 4:09 left, then stole the ball from LeBron James to set up another score two minutes later, and the Detroit Pistons beat the Heat 107-97 on Tuesday night to snap the NBA champions’ 10-game winning streak.
Kyle Singler scored 18 points to lead seven Detroit players in double figures, Andre Drummond had 18 rebounds — more than any three Heat players combined — and Greg Monroe and Rodney Stuckey each scored 16 for the Pistons.
“We had a lot of good performances from a lot of people,” Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks said. “Then we just held our composure because we knew that at some point they’d make a run. Brandon made that big 3 and we were able to hold on. When Brandon hit that big 3, it kind of settled us down a little bit.”
It might have of deflated the Heat, too.
Miami trailed by as many as 18 and then got within three on a dunk by James midway through the fourth. The Heat then missed their next three shots, two of them 3-point tries that would have knotted the game, before Jennings connected from 26 feet out — “the dagger from 90 feet,” James said afterward — to put Detroit up by six.
“Just the way the game goes,” said Heat guard Norris Cole, who was defending Jennings on the play. “He made a big shot. Just got to tip your hat.”
The Heat never got any closer. They nearly did, being down seven and with James charging downcourt with about two minutes left, but Jennings stole the ball away, brought it to the other end and set up Monroe for an easy bucket that sealed the deal for Detroit.
And for Jennings — who predicted his Milwaukee Bucks would oust the Heat in six games when they met in the opening round of last season’s playoffs, then got swept — it was a small measure of comeuppance.
“They didn’t make shots down the stretch that they usually do,” said Jennings, who’s in his first season with the Pistons. “We’re still getting better and better. But we can’t have a stretch like in the fourth, with a lead, that we couldn’t get a bucket.”
James and Michael Beasley each scored 23 for Miami. The Heat played without guard Dwyane Wade, the All-Star sitting for the fourth time this season to rest a sore knee.
Miami shot a season-low 44 percent.
“It’s a miss or make league at times,” James said. “They made. We missed.”
Jennings and Josh Smith each scored 15 for Detroit, which got 10 points apiece from Drummond and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Chris Bosh scored 14 and Ray Allen added 12 for Miami, which was outrebounded 46-34.
PHILADELPHIA — Michael Carter-Williams had 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double, and Thaddeus Young added 25 points and 12 rebounds to lead Philadelphia past Orlando in double-overtime on Tuesday night.
Carter-Williams got his 10th assist on a dish to Young late in the second OT to put the Sixers up 125-120.
Evan Turner had 24 points for Philadelphia, which snapped a four-game losing streak.
Arron Afflalo scored a career-high 43 points for the Magic and Glen Davis had a career-high 33. Victor Oladipo had 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to join Carter-Williams as rookies with a triple-double.
Turner was whistled for his fifth foul with 12.1 seconds left in the first OT on Afflalo’s 3-point attempt. Afflalo made all three free throws, tying the score at 118.
NEW YORK — Timofey Mozgov had 17 points and a career-high 20 rebounds in another superb effort by Denver’s bench, and the Nuggets raced by the Brooklyn Nets 111-87 Tuesday night for their seventh straight victory.
Kenneth Faried and Jordan Hamilton each added 15 points for the Nuggets, who got 57 points from the NBA’s second-highest scoring second unit. That wasn’t quite the 72 they rang up against Toronto on Sunday, but it was more than enough to dominate the third quarter against the short-handed Nets.
Joe Johnson scored 22 points for the Nets, who still haven’t won consecutive games this season and fell to 5-13 heading into their nationally televised first meeting Thursday with the just-a-little-worse Knicks (3-13).
Andray Blatche added 15 for the Nets, playing without injured starters Paul Pierce and Deron Williams.
BOSTON — Jordan Crawford scored 25 points, Jeff Green added 18 and Boston avoided a third loss to struggling Milwaukee this season.
Brandon Bass added 16 points and nine rebounds, Avery Bradley scored 15 and Jared Sullinger finished with 12 points as all five starters scored in double figures for Boston, which had lost two of three.
O.J. Mayo scored 19, and Brandon Knight had 15 points and six assists for Milwaukee. Khris Middleton added 14 points for the Bucks, who were outrebounded by the Celtics 40-33.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Jon Leuer scored a career-high 23 points, Ed Davis added 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Memphis made the best of a makeshift lineup to defeat Phoenix.
Leuer connected on 10 of 13 shots, Davis made 8 of 11 and seven players finished in double figures for Memphis, which shot 55 percent from the floor.
Mike Conley had 18 points and 14 assists for Memphis, which snapped a four-game losing streak at home.
Marcus Morris led the Suns with 18 points, Goran Dragic added 16 and Miles Plumlee had 11.
DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki recovered from a rough start to score 25 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter, and the Mavericks kept Charlotte winless in Dallas.
Nowitzki, who was 1 of 10 from the field in the first half, and Monta Ellis took over late after struggling most of the game. They scored the last 19 points to help the Mavericks outscore Charlotte 29-15 in the fourth.
Al Jefferson scored 19 points, and Gerald Henderson and Kemba Walker had 16 apiece for the Hornets, who are 0-10 in Dallas and 1-17 overall against the Mavericks. That’s the worst record in the league for one team against another.
