Joe Johnson got the hot hand late and put the Miami Heat in the driver’s seat.
Johnson exploded for 15 of his 25 points in the final quarter, shooting the Heat to a 99-93 road victory over the short-handed Detroit Pistons on Tuesday.
“At some point we knew the game would bust open,” said Johnson, a seven-time All-Star. “As a scorer, all you need is a couple rhythm baskets and the bucket begins to look like an ocean.”  
Miami moved into a tie with the idle Atlanta Hawks for the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
A win at Boston on Wednesday would make the Heat win the Southeast Division, guaranteeing home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs against Charlotte.
They would also be top with a defeat, provided the Hawks lose at Washington, but would face the Celtics again if they lose there and Atlanta win.
“We can control our own destiny, and that’s ultimately what you want,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra explained. “Now, with that said, you have one game playing for home-court advantage. You have to embrace the competition and go for it.”
Johnson expects a dogfight on the road in the second game of a back-to-back in the regular-season finale.  
“We know what’s at stake, so we have to treat it like a game seven,” he said. “It’s going to be tough but we have to give it everything we got.”
Miami received balanced scoring, as Luol Deng had 17 points with 10 rebounds, and Goran Dragic netted 16. Hassan Whiteside and Dwyane Wade finished with 14 apiece.
The Heat were clinging to a 79-78 advantage when Johnson caught fire, scoring 15 of his team’s final 20 points in the final six minutes.
“There were no discussions,” Spoelstra said. “We were running the plays through Joe.”
Johnson reeled off eight straight points, hitting back-to-back triples and a mid-range jumper, to open up an 87-78 lead.
He assisted on a Whiteside slam before knocking down two more jumpers to make it 93-86 lead with 1:34 remaining.
The Pistons pulled within 93-89 on Marcus Morris three-pointer before Johnson delivered the three-point dagger for a 96-89 lead with 46.5 seconds to play.
“Joe came in and hit some big three’s for us,” Wade said. “He had it going so we went to him down the stretch and he helped put the game away.”
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 17 points, while Morris and Tobias Harris scored 16 apiece for the Pistons (43-38), who played without leading scorer Reggie Jackson because of an abdominal strain.
The Pistons finished as the eighth seed in the East and will meet the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers this weekend.
“No one is picking us anyway, so we might as well go out there against the best team in the East,” Jackson said. “Everyone in this room thinks we can win any series, so we’re not going to worry about who we play.”

Elsewhere
San Antonio Spurs 102, Oklahoma City Thunder 98 (OT): Kawhi Leonard scored six of his 26 points in overtime as the Spurs edged the short-handed Thunder. The Spurs (66-15), finished 40-1 at AT&T Centre this season, matching the 1985-86 Boston Celtics for best home mark in NBA history. Oklahoma (55-27) rested Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka, but the third playoff seed in the West received 17 points apiece from Dion Waiters and Enes Kanter.
Indiana Pacers 102, New York Knicks 90: Paul George and George Hill scored 19 points apiece and the Pacers beat the visiting Knicks to clinch the seventh playoff seed in the East. Indiana (44-37) will face second-seeded Toronto in the first round this weekend. Derrick Williams led the eliminated Knicks (32-50), with 21 points.
Toronto Raptors 122, Philadelphia 76ers 98: Norman Powell scored 18 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 17 with 11 rebounds and the playoff-bound Raptors (5-26) beat the league-worst 76ers for the 12th straight time. Robert Covington hit six triples en route to 24 points for the Sixers (10-71), who became the fourth team in league history to lose 71 or more games in a single season.
LA Clippers 110, Memphis Grizzlies 84: Austin Rivers scored 14 points, Chris Paul had 12 with 13 assists and the Clippers (53-28) - the fourth playoff seed in the West - rolled the visiting Grizzlies for their 10th win in the last 11 games. The downward-spiraling Grizzlies’ (42-39) ninth loss in 10 games dropped them into tie with Dallas for the sixth playoff spot in the West.