Pistons-Hawks Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Apr 06 2012 12:23AM

The Atlanta Hawks are contending for home-court advantage in the first round of the postseason, while the Detroit Pistons likely will be watching the playoffs at home for a third straight year.

That hasn't stopped the contests between the teams from being extremely competitive this season.

Detroit seeks to match a season-high four-game winning streak Friday night when it visits Atlanta, which looks for its seventh straight home victory in the series.

The Pistons (21-33) probably dug themselves too big a hole by starting the season 4-20, but they've made a late-season surge and have won five of six after beating Washington 99-94 at home Thursday.

Greg Monroe scored a team-high 18 points and Rodney Stuckey added 15 off the bench in his return from a hamstring injury for Detroit, which now has a chance to equal its season-best winning streak set Feb. 3-10.

Stuckey fouled out after less than 19 minutes of playing time, but was satisfied overall.

"Coach (Lawrence Frank) did a great job of getting me the time that I needed," said Stuckey, who had missed the previous three games. "I'm not 100 percent, but I'm working my way back into it. I just played my game without thinking about the hamstring. If I retweak it, I do, but I can't let it stop me from playing."

Stuckey assisted on Tayshaun Prince's jumper with 24 seconds remaining that gave Detroit an 86-85 win over Atlanta in the most recent meeting March 9, ending the Hawks' three-game overall winning streak in the series.

Joe Johnson missed a potential winning 3-pointer at the buzzer in that game, but his 3-pointer with two seconds left in regulation in the previous meeting Jan. 27 sent the game into overtime, where Atlanta pulled away for a 107-101 victory.

Both those games took place in Detroit. The Hawks (32-23) have defeated the Pistons six straight times in Atlanta, most recently 104-96 on March 20, 2011.

Johnson and the rest of the Hawks' starters got a break Wednesday, resting the entire fourth quarter of a 120-93 rout of NBA-worst Charlotte.

Josh Smith finished with a game-high 24 points and is averaging 26.0 over his last nine games.

"At halftime, the message was to start the third quarter very aggressively and let's see if we can create some more separation," coach Larry Drew said. "I thought our guys did that in the third quarter, and I was really happy that we were able to rest those guys in the fourth quarter."

Willie Green took advantage of the reserves' extended time by scoring 17 points off the bench, and Jannero Pargo added 12 in his return after missing the previous 10 games due to an appendectomy.

"The bench players pretty much did what we've been doing all year, which is come in and just try to lift our team and give us some energy," Pargo said.

The Hawks had lost three of four before beating the Bobcats, but they're still tied with Orlando for fifth in the Eastern Conference and trail third-place Indiana by just 1 1/2 games.

Teague, Smith pace Hawks' win over Detroit

By GEORGE HENRY
Posted Apr 06 2012 11:59PM

ATLANTA (AP) Hawks stars Joe Johnson and Josh Smith draw much of the attention from opponents, and Jeff Teague loves to take advantage of that strategy.

Teague tied a career high with 24 points and had a season-high 11 assists, and Smith added 20 points and 12 rebounds to help the Hawks hold off the Detroit Pistons for a 101-96 victory on Friday night.

"Guys have to focus so much on Joe and Josh," Teague said. "It gives me an opportunity to penetrate and things like that, so it was just a good game overall."

The Hawks have won two straight and three of four to remain in the No. 5 spot in the Eastern Conference.

Rodney Stuckey scored 27 points for the Pistons, who had won three straight and five of six. Detroit dropped to 6-22 on the road.

"We got down, but then got ourselves back in the game," Stuckey said. "We couldn't get over the hump."

The Hawks got 16 points apiece from Joe Johnson, their leading scorer this season, and reserve big man Ivan Johnson.

Teague scored 17 in the first half, including a layup at the buzzer. He took Kirk Hinrich's inbound pass with 3.4 seconds remaining and dribbled past Stuckey and Brandon Knight to put Atlanta up 52-43 at intermission.

That's just the way coach Larry Drew designed the play.

"Coach just tells me to use my speed and get to the rim and get us a good shot," Teague said. "I was able to get to the basket."

Midway through the third, Teague made it 70-58 with an easy layup in the Hawks' half-court offense.

"When you look at the game, I don't want to say we gave them easy baskets, but all those points add up," Detroit coach Lawrence Frank said. "Easy transition buckets and layups. We have to make the game a little easier by just playing better. We competed well tonight, but their stars made the difference."

The Pistons went on an 18-6 run in a 5-minute span of the second quarter to build their biggest lead of the game at 38-32 on Will Bynum's layup.

Atlanta led by 12 in the final minute of the third, but the Pistons answered with a 17-2 run that gave them an 83-80 lead on Bynum's layup with 7:29 remaining.

But Teague asserted his influence again, zipping a pass from the top of the key to Smith for a dunk and throwing halfway down the court to Marvin Williams for a dunk and an 88-85 lead.

Teague made it 90-85 with a layup at the 3:05 mark, causing Frank to call timeout.

With 1:20 remaining, Teague fed Ivan Johnson for dunk that made it 94-89.

"Jeff Teague did a great job getting into the painted area tonight," Stuckey said. "They all did a great job getting into the paint all night. We gave ourselves a chance, but we just fell short. We had some defensive breakdowns, but we were still in the game."

Pistons starters Ben Gordon, Jason Maxiell and Greg Monroe combined for just 16 points. Bynum scored 15 and Jonas Jerebko had 10 in reserve roles.

Detroit never led after Smith hit a 20-footer jumper to make it 84-83 with 6:25 remaining.

Teague was the catalyst, helping the Hawks hand out 30 assists for the second straight game.

"Once he got aggressive off the dribble, it started opening up," Drew said. "We got our transition game going. He got to the basket. When he's in attack mode like that and he's aggressive like that, we're a different club."

NOTES: Detroit had 16 assists. ... Atlanta has won seven straight against the Pistons at Philips Arena. ... Detroit began the game with the fourth-most road losses in the NBA. ... The Pistons started the second quarter 8 of 11 from the field, but ended it 2 for 9. ... The Hawks led fast-break points 28-15.

Notebook: Hawks 101, Pistons 96

Posted Saturday April 7, 2012 12:23AM

By Jon Cooper, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Philips Arena is starting to feel like home again for the Atlanta Hawks.

Jeff Teague scored 24 points and added 11 assists and Josh Smith had 22 points and 12 rebounds as Atlanta (33-23) won for the sixth time in its last seven home games and made it seven in a row over the Pistons at Philips Arena, beating Detroit (21-34), 101-96, Friday night at Philips Arena. Teague's 24 matched his career high, while his 11 assists were a season best.

Rodney Stuckey came off the bench to score a game-high 27 for Detroit, which saw its three-game winning streak come to an end.

The third meeting of the season was the first where the game didn't come down to a three-point shot by Joe Johnson.

Atlanta led by five after one and by nine at the half, after holding Detroit scoreless for the final 2:58 of the second quarter. Teague had a game-high 17 at intermission, scoring his final two on a spectacular three-quarter-court sprint through traffic, taking the ball all the way to the hole for a buzzer-beating lay-up.

The Hawks extended the lead to 12 in the third quarter and took a 10-point spread into the final 12 minutes.

But back came Detroit. Sparked by Stuckey's seven points and four straight by Greg Monroe, the Pistons went on a 15-2 run in the first 4:30 of the quarter to take an 83-80 lead.

The Hawks answered back, as coming out of a timeout, they went on a 6-0 run of their own. Teague set up slams on back-to-back possessions, first to Smith, then to Marvin Williams, and completed the run with a dunk of his own, set up by Smith, and Atlanta never trailed again.

Detroit got the game to within one possession three more times but never shot for the tie.

QUOTABLE: "When they took the lead I just told the guys this is not a time for us to panic. This is a time for us to see what we're made of."
-- Hawks head coach Larry Drew on what he said to his team during the timeout following Detroit's fourth quarter-opening run.

THE STAT: 10 -- The combined number of points by forward Jason Maxiell and center Monroe. The tandem had torched Atlanta for 80 points in the first two games. Monroe was 3-for-7, and 2-for-6 from the line Friday night, while Maxiell was 1-for-2 and sat out the final 2:43 of the third quarter and the entire fourth. In the previous two games, Monroe had been 20-for-34, while Maxiell was 17-for-25.

TURNING POINT: With 6:43 remaining in the game and Detroit leading 83-82, Drew substituted Ivan Johnson for Zaza Pachulia. Monroe, who was 2-for-2, with an offensive and defensive rebound in the first 4:30 of the stanza, went 0-for-2 with one rebound the rest of the way. Johnson energized the Hawks, getting a resounding block, a steal, an offensive rebound and capping the run with a thunderous dunk as Atlanta outscored Detroit 11-6 over the next 5:23. Teague added four assists in the run.

QUOTABLE II: "Teague was outstanding tonight. When he wasn't scoring he was so quick putting pressure on the defense and finding guys for easy buckets. When he plays like that we are that much more dangerous offensively."
-- Marvin Williams.

HOT: Detroit guard and Georgia Tech alum Will Bynum provided the kind of instant offense that former Piston Vinnie Johnson, aka "The Microwave," would have been proud of. Bynum missed his first shot at the 10:32 mark of the second quarter but then buried four straight shots -- a driving lay-up, a three, a 20-foot fade-away J and a reverse lay-up -- in a span of 2:44.

NOT: Monroe was basically MIA, save for a 5:00 stretch in the fourth quarter. He managed only 3-for-7 shooting and also missed four of his six free throw attempts.

GOOD MOVE: Drew's call of a timeout with 3.4 seconds left in the first half. The ensuing play resulted in Teague's dash down court and buzzer-beating lay-up, which stunned the Pistons, who had made defensive substitutions, bringing in Ben Wallace for Monroe and Brandon Knight for Ben Gordon. Teague shredded the defense and raced to the basket, scoring just ahead of the half-ending buzzer and giving Atlanta a 52-43 halftime edge.

ROOKIE WATCH: Atlanta's Ivan Johnson provided energy as he always does, but also provided some offense. He scored 16 points on 8-for-12 shooting, grabbed six rebounds (two offensive boards), had an assist, made two steals and added a blocked shot. He finished the game plus-17.

NOTABLE: Atlanta's 30 assists gives them 62 assists in its last two games, having had 32 Wednesday night against Charlotte...Joe Johnson's seven helpers were second-most in the game and were one off his season high...Both teams feasted off turnovers, as Detroit turned 13 Atlanta giveaways into 19 points, while the Hawks scored 27 points of 17 Pistons turnovers...Detroit had the most points in the paint of any of the three games against Atlanta this season, but was outscored in the paint for the first time, as Atlanta held a 54-48 edge in PIPs...The Hawks outscored Detroit 28-15 in fastbreak points. They totaled 27 FB points in two games vs. Detroit at The Palace...With his 27 points Friday night (including nine of Detroit's 15 free throws for the game), Stuckey, who had sat out three straight games with a sore left hamstring, has scored 42 points in the two games since coming back. He had 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting Thursday night in the win over Washington.

UP NEXT: For the Pistons, Sunday @ Miami, Monday @ Orlando, Thursday @ Charlotte. For the Hawks, Saturday @ Charlotte, Wednesday @ Boston, Friday @ Orlando.

• Pistons: Macklin
• Hawks: Horford, Radmanovic

• Pistons: --
• Hawks: --

• Lead Changes: 8
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
• Officials: #22 Bill Spooner, #56 Mark Ayotte, #34 Kevin Cutler
• Attendance: 15143
• Duration: 2:19