PRECIOUS ACHIUWA

Jerami Grant scored 24 points, Isaiah Stewart had 20 and Detroit used a big fourth quarter to beat short-handed Toronto 127-121 on Saturday night, the Pistons’ fourth straight victory over the Raptors.

Point guards were the immediate focus when the NBA’s free agency window opened Monday night, with Kyle Lowry headed to the Miami Heat, Lonzo Ball on his way to the Chicago Bulls while Chris Paul and Mike Conley landed lucrative deals to remain with their current teams.

When the Dream Team era started in 1992, most of the NBA players in the Olympics represented the United States.

This is not how USA Basketball expected to open its Olympic summer.

Miami Heat players Udonis Haslem, left, talks to Jimmy Butler during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in Miami. The Miami Heat aren’t believing that quite yet — even after a disastrous start to the 2020-21 campaign. “Heat Nation, we are going to figure this out,” All-Star center Bam Adebayo said. AdThe year after losing the finals has not been kind to the most recent teams who have dropped the title series. Tyler Herro missed seven games with neck spasms.

Isaiah Stewart of the Detroit Pistons and Precious Achiuwa of the Miami Heat battle for a rebound during the third quarter at American Airlines Arena on January 16, 2021 in Miami, Florida. DETROIT – The Detroit Pistons and Detroit Red Wings will both play afternoon games on Monday as the country observes Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It’s a normal occurrence for professional sports teams, especially the Pistons, to play an afternoon game on MLK Day. First up: Red Wings vs. Blue Jackets at 12 p.m. Next up: Pistons vs. Heat at 3 p.m.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, bottom, and Miami Heat forward Precious Achiuwa go for a loose ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)MIAMI – The Miami Heat engineered a 58-point turnaround against the Milwaukee Bucks in 24 hours. Milwaukee’s lead was 72-58 early in the second half, 84-73 with 3:44 left in the third. Milwaukee had 21 points after four minutes Tuesday; the Bucks were held to four in the first four minutes Wednesday. Miami finished 2020 at 36-29 (22-22 regular season, 14-7 playoffs).

New Orleans Pelicans guard Eric Bledsoe (5) dribbles against Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic (7) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Dec. 25, 2020, in Miami. (AP Photo/Joel Auerbach)MIAMI – Erik Spoelstra remained perfect on Christmas, and a record-tying show from Duncan Robinson helped him stay that way. Robinson made seven 3-pointers — tying the Christmas single-game mark — and scored 23 points, helping the Heat beat the New Orleans Pelicans 111-98 to start the NBA’s holiday quintupleheader Friday. Goran Dragic scored 18 points, Bam Adebayo had 17 and Avery Bradley finished with 12 for Miami, and Spoelstra improved his Christmas record as Heat coach to 8-0. COMING HOMEVeteran ref John Goble was crew chief and got to be home for Christmas; he’s a Miami native.

Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving (11) drives against Boston Celtics center Robert Williams III (44) during the first half of an NBA preseason basketball game, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, in Boston. Irving scored 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting and had seven rebounds, five assists and two steals helping the Nets rout the Celtics 113-89 Friday night in the final preseason game for both teams. There were no fans in the new Boston Garden on Friday night, and his introduction was greeted with a faint, fake cheer. Precious Achiuwa scored 13 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Heat, while Bam Adebayo scored 13 points and Tyler Herro scored 10. McCollum led the Blazers with 26 points on 8-of-20 shooting and Gary Trent Jr. added 18 points in the loss.

This year’s NBA Draft class has taken each updated stage of the draft process in stride. “Get ready, stay ready for it.”The 2020 class, unlike previous years, has had some extra time to prepare for the careers ahead of them. With March Madness canceled and so many unknowns, NBA teams were relegated to using information gathered up until that point. By the summer, teams were limited to up to four hours of virtual meetings and they could not request videos of workouts. For Haliburton, though, the lack of Summer League due to the pandemic won’t necessarily be a huge detriment for rookies.