Five observations from the Hawks’ 118-114 victory over the Pistons Wednesday:
1. Cutting it close
The Hawks went on a 12-2 fourth-quarter run to turn a one-point deficit into a nine-point lead, 115-106 with 1:13 remaining. A comfortable win. Not really. The Pistons closed to within two points, 116-114, with 18.8 seconds left. Jeff Teague knocked down two free throws to ice the game that was closer than it should have been.
“Not very good coaching, not very good execution the last 1:20, to be up by nine and have it go down to two,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “I think a lot of mental mistakes, all of us, myself included.”
2. Long-range
The Hawks used the 3-pointer to erase a fourth-quarter deficit and gain some separation. Thabo Sefolosha, Kyle Korver, Dennis Schroder and Kent Bazemore converted four straight field goals from behind the arc. The Hawks shot just 12 of 34 from 3-point range in the game but those four early in the fourth quarter were key. The Hawks made 4 of their 7 attempts in the final period.
3. Horford helps answer
The Hawks erased a double-digit third-quarter deficit with a 16-2 run late in the third quarter. Al Horford had seven points in the run, starting it with a 3-pointer and ending it with an alley-oop dunk on a pass from Schroder. Horford had 12 third-quarter points.
4. Hack-a-Drummond
You knew the Hawks would employ the strategy of fouling the Pistons’ Andre Drummond – something they’ve done in all three games this season. The center entered the game as a 36 percent free-throw shooter. The Hawks fell behind by 11 points, 82-71, after a 17-3 Pistons’ run. After the Horford 3-pointer and the Hawks immediately began the strategy of fouling Drummond. He missed two free throws with 3:36 left in the third quarter and was replaced by Aron Baynes. The Hawks then went on their big run to take an 87-84 lead. The strategy began again when Drummond started the fourth quarter. He ended up 6 of 14 from the line – in his seven trips – before he was pulled with 3:51 remaining.
“I tell you guys all the time, I work on it every day and today was a good day for me at the line,” Drummond said. “I’ve just got to keep working.”
5. No blowout
The Pistons were coming off a 43-point loss - 124-81 – at the Wizards on Monday. There would be no such blowout. The Pistons had 62 points in the first half against the Hawks with some red-hot shooting. They scored 32 first-quarter points on 63 percent shooting. They scored 62 first-half points on 57 percent shooting. The Pistons went 3 of 6 from 3-point range in each quarter. The Pistons also had three double-digit scorers by intermission in Reggie Jackson (13), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (12) and Tobias Harris (11). The Hawks shot 52 percent in the first half but were 6 of 17 from long range.
“We knew exactly what was going to happen,” Paul Millsap said. “We knew they were going to come out with a chip on their shoulder coming off that loss. We actually did better than we expected. We had hands in their face. I think we played pretty good defense. They just played better offense.”
