NBA News Wire
Hawks 106, Pistons 103
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Al Horford led a balanced attack with 19 points and 16 rebounds and the Atlanta Hawks set a franchise record with their eighth consecutive road victory by cooling off the Detroit Pistons 106-103 on Friday night at The Palace.
Power forward Paul Millsap contributed 17 points and seven rebounds for the Eastern Conference-leading Hawks (28-8), who won their seventh consecutive game overall while snapping Detroit’s seven-game winning streak. Atlanta had previously won seven straight road games on two occasions, most recently during the 1993-94 season.
Point guard Jeff Teague supplied 14 points and 11 assists, small forward DeMarre Carroll added 13 points, guard Thabo Sefolosha had 12 and shooting guard Kyle Korver chipped in 11.
Shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led Detroit (12-24) with 20 points but missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer. Small forward Kyle Singler tossed in 16 points and added six rebounds and five assists. Forwards Greg Monroe and Anthony Tolliver scored 15 points apiece.
Pistons center Andre Drummond, the league’s second-leading rebounder, was held to four points and five rebounds in 17 minutes. Drummond did reach the career 2,000-rebound mark with his final rebound.
Detroit’s 43 3-point attempts were a franchise record.
The Hawks shot 55.8 percent from the field during the first half and raced to a 64-45 halftime lead. That point total was a season high allowed by Detroit in the first half and was just one point shy of Atlanta’s season best.
Still down by 20 at 72-52, the Pistons suddenly perked up. They reeled off a 14-3 run to cut Atlanta’s lead to 75-66. Behind Horford, who collected 11 points and six rebounds in the quarter, the Hawks reasserted control and extended the lead to 90-75 heading into the fourth.
Detroit’s 9-3 spurt to open the fourth quarter sliced Atlanta’s advantage to single digits, but it couldn’t get closer than nine points until Monroe’s free throws with 2:36 left made it 102-95. Korver responded with a 3-pointer, but Caldwell-Pope energized the crowd with two 3-pointers. He airballed another 3-point try that would have cut Atlanta’s lead to one.
When the Hawks committed a turnover with two seconds left, the Pistons had one last gasp, but Caldwell-Pope’s desperation 3-pointer came up short.
NOTES: The last time the Pistons had a winning streak longer than seven games was 2007-08 when they won 10 straight from Jan. 23 to Feb. 13. … Detroit surpassed 100 points in nine of its prevous 10 games. … Hawks SG Kyle Korver is one of two NBA players shooting better than 50 percent on 3-point attempts (51.0). New Orleans’ Luke Babbittt (51.4) is the other. “He’s by far the best catch-and-shoot player in this league,” Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. “He’s a guy who changes the whole game a lot more than even his numbers would indicate.” …. Atlanta won the previous meeting this season 99-89. The teams play twice more, including another meeting at The Palace on Jan. 19. … Pistons SF Kyle Singler played in his 200th game. … The Hawks have not had the best record in the conference this late in the season since 1993-94.
