Pistons Drive By Heat In NBA Cup Opener

     The Detroit Pistons passed by the Miami Heat 123-121 in overtime at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday night. It was the opening game for both teams in the NBA Cup. Each club will play three more games to qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament. 

     Detroit(5-7) rolled out to a 32-21 advantage by the end of the first quarter. The Pistons remained in front with a 57-52 halftime lead. 

     Miami(4-6) could not chip at the deficit and trailed 91-82 at the conclusion of the third quarter. The Heat were down 109-99 with 3:21 left in the fourth quarter. They went on a 12-2 run to tie it up 111-111 with 32.2 seconds to go. 

     The contest went into overtime. Tyler Herro put in a six-foot bank shot from the right side with 1.8 seconds left. Detroit got an uncontested dunk from Jalen Duren on an inbound pass by Cade Cunningham with 1.1 seconds remaining to even it up 121-121. Miami received a technical foul when head coach Erik Spoelstra called a time out that the team did not have. Malik Beasley placed in the technical foul shot to put the game away. 

     Tyler Herro tied the Heat franchise record with 10 three-point shots made and ended up with a game-high 40 points. Bam Adebayo compiled a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Jaime Jacquez Jr. and Duncan Robinson showed up off the bench and dropped in 14 points each. 

     Cade Cunningham ended up leading the Pistons with 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. His new teammate Tobias Harris scored 18 points while Beasley added 21 points.