The Hawks remain in the stratosphere.
The Pistons came crashing back to earth.
The Hawks led by as many as 23 points but had to hold off a dramatic Pistons rally en route to a 106-103 victory Friday night. The victory was the seventh straight for the red-hot Hawks and their 21st in the past 23 games. The win snapped the Pistons’ seven-game win streak, all of which came after the release of former Hawk Josh Smith.
The Hawks (28-8) remain solidly at the top of the Eastern Conference standings with their franchise-record eighth straight road win.
“I think winning on the road and playing a team that is playing well, it’s never easy to win on the road in this league,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Trying to look at the positives. It really wasn’t the way we wanted to finish, really the whole second half but I think you have to give them credit. They started shooting lights out. Their defense picked up. They did a lot of things to turn their game around. We’ll have to learn from it and play better in second halves.”
Al Horford led the Hawks with 19 points, 11 of which came in the third quarter, and 16 rebounds. They also got double-digit scoring from Paul Millsap (16), Jeff Teague (14), DeMarre Carroll (13), Thabo Sefolosha (12) and Kyle Korver (11).
The Pistons pulled to within four points, 105-101, with back-to-back 3-pointers from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with less than a minute remaining. He missed a third straight attempt from long range with 40 seconds left. Horford then missed a pair of free throws with 23.1 seconds left. Caldwell-Pope missed another 3-pointer and Millsap made one of two free throws with 17.2 seconds left. The Hawks forced a jump ball on the ensuing possession with 5.3 seconds left. The ball went to the Pistons as Carroll tipped the jump out of bounds. A pass and dunk by Andre Drummond made it 106-103 with 2.0 seconds left. Horford lost the inbounds pass out of bounds and, after a lengthy review, the Pistons had one final shot. Caldwell-Pope missed again a desperation attempt
Game over. The Hawks’ winning ways continue.
“I thought (Greg) Monroe hit it last but I guess I did,” Horford said. “It showed on the film. I’m just happy that we got away with a win. They kept fighting. They keep going things. You have to give them credit. They are a resilient team.”
Caldwell-Pope, a former University of Georgia star, led the Pistons (12-24) with 20 points.
The Hawks led by as many as 23 points by the second quarter as they started fast. Well, sort of. The Pistons did lead the game 4-0 at the start. The Hawks then went on a 9-2 run to take the lead for good on a Carroll 3-pointer. The lead grew to as many as 13 in the first quarter and then over 20 in the next period.
The Hawks used the long-range shot to pull away in the second quarter. They finished the period making 6 of 11 3-pointers and were 8 of 18 in the first half. The Pistons were 1 of 11 from 3-point in the first half until former Hawk Anthony Tolliver hit two from behind the arc.
The Pistons closed to within nine points as the 3-pointers began falling. They made five in the third quarter. However, Horford scored five straight points for the Hawks to push their lead back to double-digits as they took a 90-75 advantage into the final quarter.
The Pistons shot 42.3 percent from the field in the second half, including making 10 of 28 3-pointers, with Caldwell-Pope making four of them. The Pistons outscored the Hawks 58-42 in the final two quarters.
“We still have to play for 48 minutes,” Korver said. “We are just trying to be consistent and be the team we know we can be.”
The Hawks return home to host the Wizards in a Southeast Division game Sunday. They then start a four-game road trip to the Sixers, Celtics, Raptors and Bulls.
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