The Hawks completed a sweep of their two-game series against the Pistons in Detroit. They downed the Pistons 136-112 on Friday night at Little Caesars Arena.
Here are five observations.
1. The Hawks ran into some foul trouble in the first half as they tried to limit the Pistons’ wings.
Bojan Bogdanovic and sophomore guard Cade Cunningham ended up getting to the free-throw line a combined 17 times, which allowed the Pistons to keep the game within two by the end of the first half.
The Hawks adjusted and gave up just 13 free throws to the Pistons in the second half.
“We came out in the second half, and just tightened up even more, I thought, and played solid,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan said. “It didn’t become a distraction. We was able to play through that. And I think that’s a sign of growth doing that out on the road. So, always tough. And I thought our guys made that adjustment tonight, the second half, and were able to put together a few stops in a row.”
2. Despite the whistles, the Hawks seemed to have a better offensive flow than they did in Wednesday’s matchup against the Pistons. The Hawks knocked down 57.1% of their shots in the first half, thanks to the ball movement.
On top of that, the Hawks had minimal turnovers and they capitalized on the rhythm they were able to establish. They had a season-low seven turnovers on Friday, which allowed them to maintain control.
Dejounte Murray (26 points, four rebounds, five assists) and Aaron Holiday (14 points, three assists) helped push the pace and create the right opportunities.
3. The Hawks aimed to slow down Bogdanovic after he lit them up for 33 points on Wednesday night. While the Hawks did a better job of limiting the forward’s 3-point opportunities, they didn’t completely slow him, allowing him to score 22 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the floor.
The Hawks also struggled to contain Cunningham, who scored 27 by the end of the first half. He finished the game with 35.
Following Wednesday night’s win over the Pistons, McMillan said the team’s goal was to limit Cunningham and Bogdanovic from getting downhill quickly. The two ended up using the Hawks’ physicality to their advantage and got to the line a combined 17 times.
“It was to keep him from going right,” Aaron Holiday said of Cunningham. “But I mean, obviously he’s talented. I mean, if you try to stop somebody from going to their strong hand, they’re gonna get there eventually. So you know, we can do so much with that but I think we did a pretty good job in the second half of limiting his shots and obviously his makes.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
4. The team’s second unit synced up offensively, outscored the Pistons’ bench 53-19. It’s the first time this season that the Hawks’ second unit has won the battle of the benches and was the key to blowing the game open.
The second unit shot 57% from the floor in the second half to help the Hawks get out to their largest lead of the night.
With the second unit holding on tightly to the Hawks’ lead, the team was able to keep its starters out of the game in the fourth quarter.
“It always takes a lot of pressure off us,” Trae Young, who scored 36 points and had 12 assists, said. “Those guys came in tonight and took our team to another level and took the lead up, especially in that fourth quarter and was able to get us some rest. We have a back-to-back so those are never easy. Being able to get some rest before we go to Milwaukee is good.”
5. The Hawks did a better job of limiting the Pistons from long range after keeping Bogdanovic off of his mark. They held the Pistons to 7-of-32 (29.2%) shooting from 3-point range after giving up 42 points from long distance on Wednesday.
Stat to know
Trae Young notched his 52nd career 30/10 game, with 36 points and 12 assists. He trails Magic Johnson, who had 58, for the seventh-most such games in NBA history.
Quotable
“We wanted to be physical with him and make it a team effort. He’s a talented young player, I think he’s going to have a great career. Everything I heard from him working hard and being a great person, it’s all set up for him. Really just making it hard was key and we did that.” -- Dejounte Murray on the game plan for limiting Cade Cunningham
Up next
The Hawks head to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks on Saturday in their first back-to-back nights of the season.
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