After earning arguably its most impressive win of the season last Sunday at Indiana and immersed in a postseason push to earn the final spot in the playoffs, the Hawks came into Tuesday night’s contest against Detroit with much on the line. However, Atlanta struggled from the start and dropped its home contest to Detroit, 102-95.
Despite missing the services of Josh Smith, the Pistons achieved each of the benchmark goals in the contest to emerge with the victory. Andre Drummond continued his growth into one of the top post players in the NBA, posting another double-double with 19 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. Rodney Stuckey led all scorers with 29 points while Greg Monroe (21) and Peyton Siva (10) also scored into double figures for the Pistons.
Detroit leads the league in rebounds per contest and did the same this evening, outrebounding Atlanta 53-48.
Atlanta did have some bright spots with Paul Millsap scoring a team-high 24 points along with 12 rebounds. Jeff Teague (15), Pero Antic (13), Kyle Korver (12) and Mike Scott (10) each scored in double figures.
Trailing 58-52 at halftime, the Hawks had a strong start to the second half and a DeMarre Carroll layup with 6:20 left in the third quarter gave them their first lead of the contest, 69-67. The Pistons were able to retake the lead, 81-78 heading into the fourth quarter.
Detroit started contest on 14-8 run, taking advantage of size differential inside, getting multiple offensive rebounds for second-chance points. The Pistons continued its offensive pressure and took a 35-27 lead after the first quarter. Both squads shot well from the field with Atlanta posting a 50-percent field goal percentage while Detroit was at 53.8.
Both teams traded baskets throughout the second quarter as Drummond’s foul trouble affected the Pistons from increasing their lead. The center got his third foul early in the second quarter, forcing him on the bench for the rest of the half. Despite this, Detroit still took a 58-52 lead into halftime.
Millsap had a game-high 16 points at halftime while Stuckey led the Pistons with 15 points. Monroe had 12 points and seven rebounds at the half while Drummond posted nine points and eight rebounds.
Notes:
-The win snapped Detroit’s 10-game losing streak at Philips Arena, earning its first victory since 2/12/08.
-Drummond registered his Eastern Conference-leading 53rd double-double of the season.
-Stuckey’s 29 points tied his season-high.
-Atlanta’s 17 offensive rebounds tied a season-high.
-Korver became the 22nd player in NBA history with at least 1,500 career three-pointers made.
-Elton Brand played in the 1,000th game of his career, becoming the 110th player to reach that milestone.
The Sports Inquirer 
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