Atlanta Hawks: Grades From 105-98 Win Over Detroit Pistons
The Atlanta Hawks took to the court Friday night to take on the Detroit Pistons. Could they put together back-to-back wins?
The Atlanta Hawks are not playing pretty basketball this season. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not very important. As long as the team wins nobody is going to care how ugly those wins are.
That was true Wednesday night against the New York Knicks. Both teams shot under 40 percent for the game, but Atlanta came away with a gritty overtime victory. With their three-point shooting troubles, this may be the norm for the Hawks. When they win it will be because of their defense.
Friday night they matched up with a similar opponent. The Detroit Pistons came into the game with the 7th best defensive rating in the NBA, but the 20th ranked offensive rating. Common sense suggested this contest would be yet another slug-fest.
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That looked to be true in the early going. Both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket. At the end of the first quarter the score was tied 19-19. The Hawks shot 38.1 percent for the quarter, while the Pistons shot 34.6 percent. They shot a combined 1-for-11 from three-point range. An offensive clinic it was not.
By halftime, the Hawks had amassed a 51-41 lead. The offense got much better, led by Kyle Korver, Dennis Schroder, and Kent Bazemore. At the half the Hawks were shooting 45.5 percent from the field, despite a 2-for-12 effort from beyond the arc.
They held Detroit to 38.6 percent shooting, with only Jon Leuer scoring in double figures. This clip from the end of the first half sums up the wild ride that was the first half (and really Atlanta’s entire season). I apologize for the shaky cam. Denis Villeneuve would be ashamed of me.
Of course, there are two halves to a basketball game. The Hawks started the second half like they were on a mission, beginning the half with a 7-0 run to stretch their lead to 17 points. Lately the Hawks have been either on the wrong side of a blowout, or locked in a tightly contested battle.
This one wasn’t exactly a blowout, but the Hawks were in control for most of the second half. The Pistons fought until the end, though. Detroit trimmed their lead to seven points early in the fourth quarter, but a quick 5-0 got the Hawks out of the danger zone.
However, the Pistons would not go away. A dunk from Leuer cut the Atlanta lead to six with 5:56 left to play. A Reggie Jackson layup with just over four minutes to play cut the lead to four points.
The next trip down the floor, Dwight Howard tipped in a lob from Dennis Schroder. He would be fouled on the play and also hit the free-throw. Atlanta’s lead was back up to seven points. 95-90 was as close as the game would get after that point.
The two teams traded buckets throughout the final few minutes. Despite a scare or two, the Hawks would hold on for the victory. In the end, Detroit’s slow start to the second half was enough to sink them. The final score was 105-98. The win moves Atlanta to 17-16 on the season, and moves the reeling Pistons to 15-20.
2016 is over for the Hawks. They’ve closed out the year with a win. 2017 starts on Sunday. They’ll welcome the San Antonio Spurs to Phillips Arena on New Year’s Day. That will one will be tough, but we’ll cross that bridge later. For now, let’s take a look at the individual performances from the much needed win over Detroit.