Atlanta Hawks stay perfect with a win over the Detroit Pistons
The Atlanta Hawks unleashed a huge run down the stretch to protect their unblemished record with a 94-85 win over the struggling Detroit Pistons on Wednesday 3 November at the Philips Arena.
Josh Smith, who was involved in some trade talks this week, proved that he’s not bothered by all the rumours as the high-flying forward scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Hawks,
who remained the only undefeated team in the Eastern Conference with their 5-0 record.
Al Horford played big down the stretch as the fourth-year centre, who recently inked a contract extension with the Hawks, scored six-straight in the final five minutes of the game to finish
with 18 points, while Joe Johnson struggled, but managed to finish with 14 points and eight assists.
"We haven't yet played our best, but we're still winning," said Johnson, who only shot 5-for-15 from the field. "We're starting to grow. It's a beautiful thing to see, to watch, to be a part
of. Knowing where we've come from as a team, as an organization, it's a good feeling."
Zaza Pachulia had 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field, while Marvin Williams scored 11 points to go with eight rebounds for the Hawks, who trailed by five points in the final six
minutes of the game.
The Hawks entered the final period with a 70-66 lead, but the Pistons unleashed a big rally and took an 81-76 lead after a three-pointer by Tayshaun Prince in 6:13 mark of the fourth quarter,
before Atlanta finished the game with an 18-4 run to escape with the hard-earned win.
"If there's one thing about this team that I'm starting to see, it's more and more maturity," said Hawks coach Larry Drew. "We aren't panicking, especially down the stretch."
Ben Gordon racked up 22 points on 9-for-19 shooting from the floor, while veteran forward, Prince, and Charlie Villanueva finished the game with 17 and 14 points, respectively, but their
efforts were not enough to prevent their fifth-straight loss of the season.
"Nobody envisioned it but obviously it's something we're going to deal with now and try to figure out how to go forward with this," Prince said about their horrible start.
The Pistons is having their worst start of the season since opening the 1980-81 season with a 0-7 record, but head coach John Kuester, who ripped his players after their game against the
Celtics on Tuesday 2 November, was impressed with their performance tonight.
"I thought our guys played their hearts out," Kuester said. "Coming down the stretch, again, we've just got to make sure we're efficient."
The reigning Sixth Man of the Year, Jamal Crawford missed the game for the Hawks with a toe injury, and the team absorbed another blow after Marvin Williams went out in the final period after
landing hard on his right knee.
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