For nearly two months the Hawks and Detroit Pistons have been sitting at opposite ends of the Eastern Conference playoff spectrum, the Hawks holding down the No. 7 spot and the Pistons No. 2.

Had the season ended Tuesday morning, they would be paired off in a first-round playoff series with subplots galore —- Rasheed Wallace was once a Hawk, for just one night, and Hawks coach Mike Woodson helped coach most of these same Pistons to the NBA title in 2004.

So if Tuesday night's thriller, a 94-90 comeback victory for the Pistons before an electric Philips Arena crowd of 18,227, was a preview of what could be, it certainly left everyone wanting to see more.

"Today we didn't want to take a step back," Josh Smith said after leading the Hawks' comeback from an early 15-point deficit with a game-high 30 points. "They've handled us pretty easily earlier this season, embarrassing us really, so we had to make sure we showed that we can come to play on both ends of the floor. We didn't want to leave that bad feeling in our stomachs again."

Too bad.

The Hawks came up short in the fourth quarter yet again, dropping their third straight game and falling from the seventh spot to eighth at 21-27.

After keeping Pistons All-Star point guard Chauncey Billups bottled up for three quarters, the man known as "Mr. Big Shot" finished off the Hawks in the fourth quarter with a 12-point barrage, including 10 consecutive in one crucial stretch, in the game's final minutes.

Billups was 0-for-8 entering the fourth quarter, but his driving layup with 2:16 to play gave the Pistons (38-13 and winners of nine consecutive games) an 89-86 lead they wouldn't relinquish.

"This was a good win for us," said Billups, whose 16 points helped the Pistons sweep the season series against the Hawks 4-0. "At times it seemed like there were lids on the baskets because I couldn't get anything to fall. I was able to come in late in the game fresh and make some big plays. Our defense kind of collapsed during stretches of the game, and we let them get too many layups and offensive rebounds.

"The Hawks are a such an athletic team with a lot of energy, and they used that to their advantage. Al [Horford] was getting a lot of rebounds, and Josh Smith was great. They are definitely a tough team to play."

Horford had a monster game, finishing with 12 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, while Smith had six rebounds and three blocks.

But the Hawks aren't finishers. Not like the Pistons.

Not yet, at least.

While Billups was busy sealing the victory for the Pistons, the Hawks were scrambling to stay with the Pistons' veteran crew after leading briefly, 84-81 with 5:29 to play.

It was Billups who tied the game with a 3-pointer over Anthony Johnson, triggering his 10-point run, and the Hawks never recovered. His 18-footer with 22.2 seconds to play was the final dagger.

"I thought our guys battled," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said, "but Chauncey Billups was put back in to win the game, and he hit big shots. We just couldn't make plays. I thought we had good looks around the bucket coming down the stretch. We just couldn't get the ball to go down."

NEXT FOR HAWKS

> Who: at Bobcats

> When: 7 p.m. today

> TV; radio: SportSouth; 790 AM