The Detroit Pistons were seeking their first signature win of season but all that ended on Tuesday night.
Kyle Singler scored 18 points, Greg Monroe and Rodney Stuckey added 16 apiece as the visiting Pistons survived a late run to snap the short-handed Miami Heat's 10-game winning streak 107-97.
"It's definitely a good win for us to beat the defending champs, especially on the road," Monroe said.
"We had one bad lapse but we were able to withstand it."
Brandon Jennings, Josh Smith and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope netted 15 apiece while Andre Drummond contributed 10 and 18 rebounds for the Pistons (8-10), who beat the Heat for just the second time in the last 10 meetings.
Detroit played from in front nearly the entire game and led by 17 in the final frame before the Heat made a game of it.
LeBron James capped a 20-6 run with a ferocious length of the court dunk to pull the hosts within 91-88 midway through the period.
The Pistons kept their poise and composure, though.
Jennings drilled a desperation 27-foot straight-away three-pointer at the 24-second shot clock buzzer to spark a 7-1 run. Stuckey sank two free throws and Smith added a breakaway dunk off a steal, opening up a 98-89 advantage at the three-minute mark.
"Brandon hit that deep three," Monroe said. "We were able to regroup and take back the game."
Ahead 98-91 Jennings came up with another big play, this time on the defensive end.
With James driving hard to the basket after a steal, the Pistons point guard reached in and stripped him of the ball. He fed Monroe for a layup at the other end to put the game out of reach.
"I saw LeBron and he had this big mean look on his face," Jennings said. "I thought get out of his way. The next thing I saw the ball and just went for it."
James and Michael Beasley scored 23 points apiece for the Heat (14-4), who shot a season-low 44 per cent, while coughing the ball up 19 times resulting in 29 points.
All-Star guard Dwyane Wade was held out to rest his sore knee.
Elsewhere the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Orlando Magic 126-125 in double overtime.
Michael Carter-Williams had 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple double.
Glenn Davis added a career-high 33 points for Orlando, while rookie Victor Oladipo had 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Golden State Warriors downed the Toronto Raptors 112-103; Denver Nuggets enjoyed a comfortable 111-87 win over the Brooklyn Nets; Boston Celtics eased to a 108-100 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder all got the spoils.
