MIAMI _ The stakes were high, the body count low.
Ultimately, attrition won out, with the Miami Heat falling back to 10th place in the Eastern Conference playoff race with Saturday night's 119-96 loss to the Detroit Pistons at AmericanAirlines Arena.
In a game that effectively counted double in the playoff race, the Heat fell to 1-2 against Detroit in the four-game season series, the head-to-head tiebreaker effectively lost due to the Pistons' superior conference record.
After announcing earlier in the day that Justise Winslow would be out due to knee pain and that James Johnson would be out due to the shoulder injury sustained in Thursday's road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Heat lost replacement starter Rodney McGruder for the second half due to knee pain.
So even with Goran Dragic back on the court for the first time since December knee surgery, the Heat dropped to 11-17 at home, with their seventh loss in their last nine games overall.
The game opened a run of 10 of 12 at home, but a schedule that turns treacherous after Monday's visit by the Phoenix Suns, with a Wednesday home game against the Golden State Warriors and a Thursday road game against the Houston Rockets.
In desperate need for multiple players to step forward against what the Pistons could singularly offer from Blake Griffin, the Heat got 22 points from Josh Richardson and 17 from Dion Waiters.
The Pistons won despite Griffin shooting 7 of 19 for 20 points on the second night of Detroit's back-to-back set that opened with a Friday night road victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
It is the first time Detroit has won consecutive road games since Nov. 9, as they moved into the No. 7 seed in the East.
Down 54-49 at halftime, the Heat fell behind by 15 in the third quarter before going into the fourth behind 84-76.
The Pistons then opened the final period on a 7-0 run to match their largest lead to that stage, at 91-76, pushing their advantage into the 20s from there.
