Jeff Teague knew he was going to be the what-not-to-do subject of the Hawks’ next film study.
With the Hawks clinging to a three-point lead with less than two minutes left, the point guard had the ball stolen by the Pistons’ Brandon Jennings. As Jennings went in for a layup, Teague raced back for a spectacular block of the attempt. Paul Millsap corralled the loose ball and Teague found Al Horford for an alley-oop dunk. It was part of a 10-2 Hawks’ run en route to a 96-89 victory over the Pistons Friday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The victory was the Hawks second over the Pistons in three days.
“(Jennings) made a good play on the ball defensively,” Teague said. “I just took my eye of it, trying to see what my options were before I made a move. He made a good play on the ball. I know coach was going to show it on film so I had to make sure I got back and made an attempt or maybe foul him. I got the block. I was able to meet him at the rim.”
The Hawks (8-5, 4-4 road) lost an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter. They had six of their 14 turnovers in the final period. After trailing with 3:18 remaining they hustled their way to the win. They got key rebounds, steals and put-backs of misses to go on the decisive run.
The Pistons (4-8, 3-3 home) took an 87-86 lead with 3:30 remaining. The Hawks got a steal from Millsap and a basket and foul from DeMarre Carroll. He missed the free throw but got the rebound. Horford was fouled on a dunk attempt with 2:51 remaining. He made one free throw for an 89-87 lead. The Hawks stayed in front. After a Pistons miss, Carroll nailed a corner 3-pointer for a five-point lead.
“Maybe in earlier games, we might have given this game away with mistakes,” Horford said. “We’ve learned from that. We are in a better position. We are not there yet because we gave up the lead in the fourth but we are definitely getting better.”
Teague led the Hawks with 18 points, 14 coming in the third quarter. He added 11 assists, eight in the first half, for a double-double. Horford (17), Millsap (14), Kyle Korver (14) and Carroll (12) were the Hawks’ other double-digit scorers. Korver extended his streak to 86 games with a 3-pointer. He is three shy of the NBA all-time mark, which he can surpass next week.
Kyle Singler, who started in place of Josh Smith led the Pistons with a game- and career-high 22 points. Smith did not score as he went 0-for-7 in 20 minutes.
Smith, the former Hawks player who signed a four-year, $54 million free agent contract with the Pistons this summer, came off the bench for the first time this season. He missed a team practice Thursday and was disciplined. He has also been benched during a game this season. Smith was held to 11 points and six rebounds in the Wednesday’s game in Atlanta.
Teague took over in the third quarter. He scored 14 of the Hawks’ 24 points, on 6 of 9 shooting, including three and-one plays.
The Hawks held a 49-44 lead at halftime. They used a 20-5 first-quarter run to erase a seven-point deficit. They led by as many as nine points in the first quarter and 11 points in the second quarter.
After committing 46 turnovers in the previous two games, the Hawks had just four in the first half.
“I think what we did at the end of the game there, starting with Jeff Teague’s block; then DeMarre Carroll tracking down a couple transition put-back and-ones; Al Horford sprinting back in transition defense and getting a steal and getting a lob; going from defense to offense and offense to defense and back and forth when the game is on the line; that’s what we’ve been talking about,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “That is probably the most important thing to take from the game. I think we were good in stretches and sloppy in stretches. But we found a way to win on the road and that is important to us.”
The Hawks host the Celtics Saturday, part of a stretch of 10 games in 16 days.
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