Hawks study up on new Pistons

With two opponents this weekend that look drastically different than they did the last time the Hawks saw them, the scouting reports had to be reworked for Friday’s game against Golden State at Philips Arena and for Sunday afternoon’s game against Detroit.

The Warriors’ starting five Friday night consisted of Jamal Crawford, Andris Biedrins, Marco Belinelli, Kelenna Azubuike and rookie Rob Kurz.

Detroit will come to town with All-Star guard Allen Iverson but without All-Star point guard Chauncey Billups. The two were swapped for each other in a mega-deal between the Pistons and Denver Nuggets.

“That’s why we scout and watch tape,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said with a smile. “That’s where our preparation comes into play. You just have to try not to deviate from what it is you do. From a defensive standpoint, everything stays the same. Sure, you tweak on the fly for certain teams. But for the most part you make sure what you do stays sound and you’ll be fine.”

Change of plans?

The Hawks’ early game woes from beyond the 3-point line continued Friday night.

The Hawks missed their first six 3-pointers before Flip Murray snapped the drought with a make from the corner with 1:11 to play in the first quarter.

But instead of continuing to fire away from deep with the Warriors settled into their zone defense, the Hawks flipped the script and scored 24 of their 31 first-quarter points in the paint.

Their dependence on the deep ball, however, returned in the second quarter, as they added only eight more points in the paint by halftime.

Dig deep into bench

Warriors coach Don Nelson’s preference for an up-tempo game forced the Hawks to dig a little deeper into the rotation than normal.

“They play so fast so there’s a chance that we might have to go a little bit deeper” Woodson said.

Woodson used 10 of the 12 players on the active list before halftime, with Acie Law IV making a surprise appearance in the second quarter and responding with five assists in seven minutes of action.

Solomon Jones had three points and two rebounds in five minutes of relief action. Neither Law nor Jones played in Wednesday’s loss to Boston.