Antetokounmpo's Heat send another message with win over the Pistons

With a spectacular performance of 34 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Miami Heat secured its fourth consecutive victory on Saturday by defeating the Detroit Pistons by a resounding 137-117.

Here are the highlights from Saturday's action in the NBA:

Klay Thompson proves decisive

Thanks to a string of key victories, the Miami Heat are making people forget their troubling start to the season, which began with a four-game losing streak.

Coach Erik Spoelstra is successfully fitting the pieces together around his new superstar, Antetokounmpo, and Miami is already sitting in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, with a 7-6 record.

Between Friday and Saturday, the team reaffirmed its progress by defeating two of its most important conference rivals, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons.

While Antetokounmpo scored 37 points against the Cavs, the very next night he came close to a triple-double against Detroit with 34 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists.

Center Bam Adebayo contributed 20 points, and veteran shooting guard Klay Thompson added another 26, including 6 three-pointers, two of which were decisive in sealing the victory over the visitors in the fourth quarter.

For Detroit, point guard Cade Cunningham recorded 33 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists.

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Cavs win without their starters

In Cleveland, the Cavs pulled off a surprising 127-117 victory over the Dallas Mavericks despite the absence of their entire starting lineup.

Donovan Mitchell; James Harden, Peyton Watson and Jarrett Allen were listed as inactive for the game after playing in Cleveland's loss to Miami the night before.

The Cavs were unable to return home after the game, as planned, due to the air traffic chaos caused by the suspension of flights across the United States for several hours on Friday.

Back in Cleveland on Saturday, head coach Kenny Atkinson ruled out Mitchell, Harden, Watson and Allen for the game against Dallas, while the fifth starter, Evan Mobley, is sidelined with a left foot injury.

Although the crowd expressed its displeasure at the absence of the stars, the Cavaliers' bench players took full advantage of the rare opportunity, especially Australian Tyrese Proctor.

The Australian outshone Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg, Dallas's stars, with a triple-double of 24 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

For Dallas, Irving scored 34 points against his former team, while Flagg finished with 18 points on 6-for-19 shooting from the field.