Brandon Knight scored 20 points Sunday night to help the Pistons snap an 18-game losing streak against the Bulls with a 99-85 victory. The loss dropped Chicago two games behind Brooklyn in the race for the fourth seed and a chance to host a first-round series in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Jonas Jerebko added 17 points and a season-high nine rebounds for the Pistons, who also ended an eight-game home skid.

The Bulls led by as many as 11 points in the first quarter but Detroit gradually caught up and took the lead in the second after starting the period on a 12-4 run.

“From that point on, we started to get stops and get out in transition,” coach Lawrence Frank said. “We made a lot of winning-type plays and played with a lot of intensity.”

The Pistons took a 50-46 lead to intermission and pushed it to as many as 10 in the third quarter. Knight scored a dozen points in the period, including a 3-pointer that killed Chicago’s last good chance at getting close. Detroit scored the first four points of the fourth and never let the Bulls get closer than 10 points the rest of the night.

“It felt good,” said Knight, who’d seen the Pistons drop the first three games of the series against Chicago by a combined eight points.

“We were the team to not make mistakes and capitalized on their mistakes.”

Jerebko and Charlie Villanueva (12 points) sparked a bench that outscored Chicago’s 33-12.

Rodney Stuckey, starting in place of injured point guard Jose Calderon, had 14 points and rookie Andre Drummond, who shot airballs on two late free throws in a one-point loss at Chicago on March 31, added 10 rebounds for Detroit.

Carlos Boozer had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls, who played without leading scorer Luol Deng. Coach Tom Thibodeau wasn’t feeling sorry for his team, which has been missing former league MVP Derrick Rose all season.

“You can’t use that as an excuse,” he said. “Whoever is out there, we have to go out and get the job done.”

Nate Robinson added 18 points and Jimmy Butler scored 14 as Chicago’s two-game winning streak ended. Two of the Bulls’ last six games are against playoff-bound teams, the same number Brooklyn faces.

The teams will not see each other before the postseason.

Deng, the Bulls’ leading scorer and the NBA’s leader in minutes per game, missed the game with a sore hip. Thibodeau said the decision to bench him was “precautionary.”

Chicago’s Joakim Noah, who missed eight games with an injured right foot, and Marco Belinelli, who was out seven with an abdominal strain, each returned Sunday night. Noah finished with 13 points and seven boards.

The Bulls were aiming to match the franchise record for consecutive victories over an opponent, which also was against the Pistons. Michael Jordan’s 1990s teams won 19 in a row against Detroit.

The Pistons treated home fans to their first win since the All-Star break. They hadn’t won at the Palace of Auburn Hills since Feb. 13.

Game notes

Calderon, who had started all 28 games since Detroit acquired him in a Jan. 30 trade, missed the game with a right triceps strain. … Chicago’s last loss to the Pistons was Dec. 23, 2008. … The Bulls used their 13th different starting lineup.

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Apparently, they do not mind.

LeBron James scored 29 points, Dwyane Wade added 19 and the Heat extended their winning streak to 25 games by pulling away in the second half and beating the Detroit Pistons 103-89 on Friday night.

Miami trailed by as much as 11 in the first half before moving within eight of tying the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers for the longest winning streak in NBA history. The Heat also won at home for the 16th straight time.

“We don’t get caught up in things like that, saying that we’re untouchable,” said James, who also finished with eight assists and eight rebounds. “We know we can be beat by anybody, any night, if we don’t come in with the mindset to play our game.”

Maybe they don’t always come in with that mindset in perfect order, but the Heat clearly find a way to get to that place. Just this week alone, they rallied from 17 points down to win at Boston, then pulled off the wild 27-point, second-half comeback to prevail at Cleveland.

No real dramatics were needed Friday, especially after Miami allowed only 35 points after halftime.

“We were a little flat in the first half,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But in the second half, the urgency was much better, created a lot more opportunities off of our defense. I liked the way we finished the game.”

Miami’s magic number for clinching the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference is now three. The Heat also remained 1 1/2 games up on San Antonio, which needed overtime to beat Utah, for the league’s best record.

Greg Monroe finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds for Detroit, which dropped its 10th straight game. Jose Calderon had 18 points and seven assists, most of that coming in the first half for the Pistons, who also got 18 points and eight rebounds from Kyle Singler.

“The effort was there,” Calderon said. “I thought we played pretty for almost the whole game. When they came out for the second half, they looked like a different team out there. … They tweaked their game plan and it was a bit more difficult to make some baskets. They were more aggressive.”

That’s because they had to be that way. James said Detroit caught Miami off-guard in the first half with some sets. A quick halftime adjustment or two, and the reigning champions looked like reigning champions again.

“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. This time of year, it’s going to be a dangerous team,” Spoelstra said. “It’s going to be a team absolutely urgent, desperate for a playoff position or a team with nothing to lose, no pressure. Either way, you have to impose your will.”

That did not happen, at least not in the early going.

For the fifth time in the last six games, the Heat trailed after the first quarter. Detroit made 12 of its first 18 shots — 67 percent — and took a 28-20 lead fueled by an 8-0 run late in the opening period.

Detroit’s lead went to 11 in the second quarter, with Calderon making all three of his field goal attempts, all from 3-point range. He wound up with 16 points and six assists at halftime, just the second player to have a first-half stat line like that against the Heat this season. There were times it seemed Detroit was getting whatever it wanted.

Nonetheless, the Heat were down just 54-51 at the break.

“You knew they were going to make a run,” Monroe said. “That’s what this league is all about. It’s about withstanding them.”

On that front, the Pistons couldn’t keep pace. Detroit scored 28 points in the first quarter, 26 more in the second — and 22 in the first 19 minutes of the second half.

A lull like that was just too much to overcome, especially when the Heat took off on a 19-8 run to start the fourth quarter and put away the game.

After getting fouled in the open floor and playfully crashing into the basket support midway through the fourth, James took a playful swing at Wade and clearly seemed relaxed even though the Heat were up by only nine.

It was like he knew the capper was on the way. When play resumed, James set Wade up for a basket that gave Miami its first double-digit lead of the night, then threaded a pocket pass to Chris Bosh for a three-point play and a 90-76 lead with 5:47 remaining.

James walked to the far end of the floor, popped out his mouth guard and watched the replay on the overhead video board, then exhaled deeply.

“We were in our groove, both offensively and defensively,” James said. “I kind of felt like it was at a point where we could kind of break it open.”

The streak lived. Again.

Game notes

Heat G Ray Allen got three stitches in his lower lip. The Heat aren’t sure if he will miss any game time. Miami next plays Sunday at home against Charlotte. … James picked up his fourth straight Eastern Conference player of the month award, this one for February, in a brief halftime ceremony. … The Heat signed F Juwan Howard for the remainder of the season Friday. … South Florida native Brandon Knight (left ankle) remained sidelined for Detroit. … The Heat played a tribute video to the Atlantic Coast Conference champion Miami Hurricanes during the game, along with highlights of their NCAA tournament win from earlier Friday. … Pistons reserve Kim English fouled out with 23.5 seconds left in the third quarter with no points in 12:05 of playing time. The only other players with a zero-point, six-foul night in fewer minutes this season are New York’s Kurt Thomas (9:40) and Toronto’s Amir Johnson (9:26). … Golf’s Greg Norman was in attendance, along with child abuse prevention advocate Lauren Book, who’s on her annual awareness walk from Key West to Tallahassee.

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He was expected to be in the lineup Monday night against the New York Knicks. The Spanish-born point guard had been unable to play for his new team because of unresolved visa issues.

Detroit acquired Calderon from Toronto as part of a three-team trade last Wednesday that included the Pistons trading Tayshaun Prince to Memphis and the Grizzlies dealing Rudy Gay to the Raptors. Calderon couldn’t play for the Pistons on Friday against the Cleveland Cavaliers or Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers.

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