Atlanta Hawks lose thriller to Pistons 111-104

As has been the case for much of the Atlanta Hawks’ 2017-18 season, the team kept it close, but faltered down the stretch on Friday night – falling to the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons, 111-104.

No one can accuse the Hawks of not trying, as they battled and clawed their way throughout this game, fighting all the way back from a 19-point first-half deficit to tie the game at 100 with 1:05 to go in the 4^th quarter.

In the end, some late heroics from the polarizing Reggie Jackson – in the form of two three-pointers to ice the game – downed the Hawks on this night, but they played hard against a good opponent and can hang their hats on solid efforts all over the floor.

Related Story: Luke Babbitt is a perfect fit in Coach Budenholzer’s system

Despite this being a close game, you couldn’t describe either teams’ play as crisp. Both teams combined for a whopping 32 turnovers, with the Pistons just edging the Hawks in this dubious statistic, 17-15.

In terms of overall play, the Hawks were up-and-down – as they have been for much of this season. Once again, they were outshot from three-point territory (a major bugaboo for this team) 30 to 24. In terms of percentage, the Pistons made 12 treys for 40 percent, and the Hawks only managed 8 for 33 percent.

This was a rather balanced performance from the Hawks, however, with six players scoring in double figures. Much of this democratic offensive performance can be attributed to Dennis Schröder, who was more focused on distributing the basketball on this night than usual – notching a season-high 11 assists.

The Hawks continue to show spirit and effort on the offensive glass, though glass master John Collins was limited to 2 due to the hulking presence of Andre Drummond on the boards. Taurean Prince picked up the slack, however, grabbing 5 of his 6 rebounds on the offensive end.

Despite a strong showing on the offensive glass, The Prince That Was Promised had possibly his worst night of the season. Taurean went 4 of 13 from the field, including 0 of 3 from downtown for 8 points, and a -9 net rating.

Let’s just say it: Prince has a rather nasty pump-fake addiction. Though it is effective sometimes, other times it seems to throw him out of rhythm, making his outside shot less effective. He is also prone to overpassing after faking the shot, oftentimes finding a less-open player for a more difficult attempt.

Kent Bazemore had a strong game after an uninspired performance against the Celtics in the Hawks’ last game, all the way back on Monday.

Baze seemed to teleport wherever the action was on the court, gliding all over the place to the tune of a season-high 22 points on 8 of 16 shooting with 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. He was also money in the 4^th quarter, burying two huge threes in the final period, the latter of which tied the game at 94.

Dennis Schröder continued his stellar start to the season, putting up 17 points on 8 of 16 shooting with an impressive 11 assists – 5 of which he produced in the final 4:24 of the game.

The Hawks looked great in that frenetic 4^th-quarter comeback, as they showed tremendous hustle and were clicking on all cylinders. It will come as no surprise to Hawks enthusiasts that exciting rookie John Collins played much of that late-game run, and also played a huge role throughout the game as a rim-running finisher in the paint.

JC finished the game with a season-high 16 points on 8 of 13 shooting from the field with 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. Collins had to contend with a behemoth defensive assignment in the form of Andre Drummond, but the young center acquitted himself well (despite a massive rebounding advantage for the veteran – 20 boards to Collins’s 8).

Collins did use his superior agility to outhustle Drummond and force him into some difficult passing and dribbling situations, neither of which are Drummond’s strong suit. This ball pressure from Collins led to a game-high 6 turnovers for the Pistons center. That same agility also allowed Collins to switch frequently on defense – notably matching up late with Avery Bradley and defending him very well.

Again, Collins looks like one of the Hawks’ best players, and his activity on both ends of the floor on this night was infectious. JC led the team in net rating with a +5 in a game the Hawks lost by 7. That alone should show how effective Collins was on this night.

The two Hawks sharpshooters, Luke Babbitt and Marco Belinelli, ended with similar stat lines but came by them in very different ways.

Babbitt finished a hyper-efficient shooting night with 11 points on 4 of 5 shooting, only missing one three-pointer all night, and a +5 net rating.

Belinelli, on the other hand, went 6 of 16 and only shot a measly 2 of 7 from downtown, piling up 14 points and -10 net rating.

These stat lines perfectly sum up the games of both players, as Babbitt is the more under-control, measured frontcourt player, and Belinelli is the gun-slinging two guard, firing away without hesitation and without conscience – sometimes to his team’s detriment.

Dewayne “Shooting Machine” Dedmon had another solid game with 13 points on 6 of 7 shooting (1 of 1 from 3) and 9 rebounds. He got dinged up later in the game after diving for a loose ball in the 3^rd quarter, so stay tuned for updates on his condition.

Next: Is Dennis Schroder flirting with a record year in terms of shooting?

The Hawks return to action tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. EST in a back-to-back against the Washington Wizards.