Five observations from the Hawks’ 99-94 exhibition loss to the Pistons Thursday night at Philips Arena:
1. For starters: Still without Paul Millsap, the Hawks' starting unit showed longer stretches of solid play. The unit played well early with some sustained ball movement. Dennis Schroder had 17 points and nine assists and Dwight Howard had 15 points and nine rebounds. The point guard-center combined for several baskets out of the pick-and-roll. Kent Bazemore had 12 points and Kyle Korver had 10 points, including three 3-pointers. Kris Humphries filled in at power forward for Millsap and had two points and six rebounds. The 33 first-quarter points was a good start. Defensively, the unit has some work to do. The Pistons outscored the Hawks 36-23 in the third quarter, including a 12-4 start to the period.
2. Foul trouble: Howard fouled out of the game with 7:26 remaining, although coach Mike Budenholzer left him in with five fouls trying to extend his minutes. Howard had five fouls in Monday's win over the depleted Cavaliers. The Hawks also lost Edy Tavares to fouls with 41 seconds left. In addition, the Pistons played without their starting center Andre Drummond. It could be something to watch early in the season with backup center Tiago Splitter out with a hamstring injury. Mike Muscala, who rested Thursday, and Humphries can play center but it could be an issue if Howard is limited by foul trouble.
3. Delaney bounce back: Malcolm Delaney had a solid offensive game off the bench. He will serve as the primary backup to Schroder, at least while Jarrett Jack rehabilitates his right knee. He finished with 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range. Delaney was not happy with his offensive game after going 0 of 7 against the Cavaliers. Near the end of the first quarter against the Pistons, Delaney scored eight straight Hawks points. "I know my shot will come," he said.
4. Prince solid again: The Hawks are deep at the wing position but rookie first-round pick Taurean Prince looks like he'll earn some time in that rotation. He had another solid all-around game with seven points and six rebounds in 15 minutes. In four exhibition games, Prince has 34 points (8.5 per game), 18 rebounds, a team-high eight steals and three steals. "Taurean plays so hard defensively," Budenholzer said. "He's going to fight through screens. He's going to fight to deny. He's going to fight to get into passing lanes. I think he has a real desire to be good defensively and be disruptive defensively."
5. Hardaway Jr. struggles continue: Tim Hardaway Jr. had another rough shooting night as he went 1 of 10 from the floor including 0 of 3 from 3-point range. Through his three exhibition games, Hardaway is 3 of 30 from the field and 0 of 11 from 3-point range. The Hawks praised Hardaway's productive summer but as of now his shooting touch is off.
About the Author
