The Hawks are moving up the standings – quickly.
Last week, the team stood sixth in the Eastern Conference. Now, they are fourth – and just a half-game out of third.
The Hawks have won three straight and eight of the past 10 games after a 118-114 victory over the Pistons Wednesday at the Palace at Auburn Hills.
The Hawks (39-29) moved to a season-best 10 games over .500. They are tied with the Celtics, who lost to the Thunder Wednesday, in the East and are a ½-game behind the idle Heat for third. The Hawks currently own the tiebreaker with the Celtics, 2-1, with the teams meeting one more time in Atlanta’s final regular-season home game on April 9.
“This is a big win,” said Al Horford, who finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 22 points, including going 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. The Hawks also got double-doubles from Kent Bazemore (15 points and 10 rebounds) and Paul Millsap (13 and 10).
The Hawks, who trailed by 11 points in the third quarter, battle back and held a nine-point lead, 115-106, with 1:13 remaining. The Pistons cut their deficit to two points, 116-114, with 18.8 seconds left as Bazemore and Millsap missed three of four free throws and Teague had a turnover. However, Teague sealed the game with two free throws with 17.9 seconds left and the Pistons’ Reggie Jackson missed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds.
“They were in a situation where they had to foul,” Teague said. “It’s something we work on every day in practice, to make free throws. I just knocked them down.”
The Pistons (34-34) have lost two straight and three of the past four as they fight for their playoff lives. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led the Pistons with a game-high 24 points as each starter scored in double figures.
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