Oct 5, 2008 9:30 pm US/Eastern
Pistons Spoil Beasley's Preseason Debut
Overall Number Two Pick Scores 16 In 95-91 Loss
MIAMI, FL (CBS4/AP) ―
The Detroit Pistons and Rodney Stuckey's 23 points beat the Miami Heat 95-91 in the teams' preseason openers in a game Sunday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. The positive sign to take out of the game for the Heat was the play of their 2008 number one pick.
Michael Beasley scored 16 points in his preseason debut for Miami, 13 of those coming in the third quarter. The No. 2 overall pick in this year's draft out of Kansas State sat out the final 17 minutes for Miami.
Jason Maxiell finished with 13 points for Detroit, including the first two baskets of overtime. Richard Hamilton added 12, even though he -- like virtually most of the projected regulars for both teams -- played sparingly.
Mark Blount scored 12 points, while Daequan Cook, David Padgett and Olympic gold medalist Dwyane Wade each added 11 for Miami.
Stuckey connected on a baseline jumper from a tough angle -- behind the backboard, the Heat argued -- with 8.8 seconds left in regulation to get Detroit within one. And after Cook made a free throw at the other end, Stuckey hit a 15-footer from the left wing to force overtime.
By then, knowing Beasley's night was done, the majority of a sparse crowd had already left.
Beasley, who was perhaps the nation's most dynamic college player in his lone season at Kansas State, entered the game for the first time with 3:11 left in the opening quarter to a loud ovation, even in a sparsely filled arena.
The Heat know he can score. During the preseason, they want to see if Beasley can defend.
"He's a coachable kid and he's been diligent with his work when he's healthy and able to get out there," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "But it's going to be a process. It's going to take some time because he doesn't naturally think defense first, and that's pretty normal for a young player, so we'll have to rebuild some habits."
Those lessons are apparently already being learned. On Beasley's first defensive possession, he stepped in front of a pass near midcourt, drove the other way and drew a foul.
Beasley started the second half, playing alongside Wade, Mario Chalmers, Shawn Marion and Blount. The Wade-Beasley pairing instantly clicked; Wade set Beasley up for baskets on consecutive possessions early in the third quarter, the second of which resulted in a two-handed dunk by the rookie.
The Heat leave Monday for Paris, where they'll open part of the NBA Europe Live tour Thursday against the New Jersey Nets. The teams will also meet in London on Oct. 12.
Notes:@ Heat point guard Chris Quinn sprained his left ankle in the fourth quarter and is listed as day-to-day. ... Wade, who hadn't played a game in Miami since March, greeted the stat crew with fist bumps before tip-off. "Hey, y'all miss me?" he asked. ... Actress Gabrielle Union, a fixture at Heat games in recent seasons, sat in the second row opposite the Miami bench. ... Newly retired Jason Williams, who was with the Heat for three seasons, sat behind the Detroit bench. ... The Heat placed Udonis Haslem (foot), Shaun Livingston (knee), Dorell Wright (knee) and James Jones (wrist) on the game's inactive list. Detroit didn't have any inactives.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
