No letdown, only a smackdown.
The Hawks erased any concern they would fall to an inferior opponent minutes into a 116-84 utter dismantling of the Pistons at Philips Arena on Wednesday night. They set season-highs for points in a quarter (39) and points in a half (72) in building an early lead the Pistons had no hope of overcoming.
Consider:
- The Hawks led 39-20 after the first quarter as nine different players scored.
- They led 72-42 at the half as all 12 available players entered the scoring column. The .622 shooting percentage was the best of the first half all season. The Hawks led by as many as 37 points in the second quarter. The lead eventually reached 41 in the fourth quarter.
- Joe Johnson logged the most first-half minutes of any starter with just 12. Many starters jumped to their feet and waved towels as the reserves continued to pour it on.
- The Pistons made only 15 of 44 shots (.341) in the first half. The Pistons ended the first half with 42 points, a total the Hawks had reached with 11:28 remaining in the second quarter.
- The Philips Arena crowd even attempted the wave in the third quarter.
The Hawks (37-25), guarding against a letdown similar to the one suffered against the Raptors on Sunday, led by 10 points with 7:33 remaining in the first quarter, by 20 with 11:44 left in the second quarter and by 30 with 4:42 left in the first half.
“What we can’t fall prey to is relaxing simply because we are home,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said before the game. “I’ve seen it having been in this situation a number of times, particularly coming down the stretch run of the regular season. At times you can get a little complacent, get a little comfortable just being at home. At this point, we can’t allow that to happen because we are right in the thick of things in the playoff [race].”
The Hawks are battling the Celtics and Magic, who met Wednesday night, for the right to host a first-round playoff series. With four home games remaining in the regular season, the Hawks are searching for consistency and momentum going into the postseason.
“We are just trying to position ourselves in the best possible spot,” Joe Johnson said before the game. “Right now, we control our own destiny. We have to take care of home. ... We’ve shown we can be a great team. These last five games we have to come out and show that we can be one of the best teams in this league.”
The Hawks have won two consecutive and six of their past eight. They won the season series with the Pistons, 3-1, and ran their home winning streak against them to eight games.
The Hawks had six players in double-figures scoring, led by Tracy McGrady with a season-high 17 points. The others were Ivan Johnson (16), Joe Johnson (13), Josh Smith (12), Marvin Williams (10) and Willie Green (10). The team also recorded a season-high 72 bench points.
The Pistons (23-39) lost for the sixth time in eight games. They were led by Greg Monroe with 17 points.
“I think we are one of those teams who can be scary in the playoffs because you don’t know what kind of team we can really be,” Green said before the game. “I think that’s scary for opponents. It is also a little scary for us. We want to make sure over the last five games we try to be consistent with our play, and a high level of play on both ends of the floor, because when we get into the playoffs we can be a very dangerous team.”
Mission accomplished on this night.
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