Jeff Teague, Josh Smith help Atlanta Hawks hold off Detroit Pistons – NBA Recap
Jeff Teague scored 24 points and Josh Smith added 22 as the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Detroit Pistons 101-96 here at the Philips Arena in Atlanta. This was the Hawks 6th win in the last 7 home games. Rodney Stuckey came off the bench to score
a team high 27 points for the Pistons. Detroit had won their last three games before this one.
Atlanta took an early 11-2 lead in the 1st quarter but the Pistons came back, leading 16-15 with over 4 minutes left. Atlanta then went on a 9-0 run to take the lead again and finished the quarter leading 24-20.
Detroit took the lead back in the 2nd with a driving jump shot by Stuckey and consecutive plays by Will Bynum extended Detroit’s lead to 6 with 6:06 remaining in the half. However, Detroit went scoreless in the final 2 minutes and 58 seconds of
the half, and Atlanta finished the half with a 16-2 run to lead 52-43 at the end of the first half.
Atlanta maintained their lead in the 3rd quarter and finished leading 78-68 as they entered the final period. Detroit started the 4th with a 9-0 run to cut the Atlanta’s lead to 1, trailing 77-78. They then took a 3 point lead with
7:29 remaining in the game when Bynum connected a layup.
Atlanta regained a 5 point lead off a Dunk by Smith and then Marvin Williams, followed by a floating jumper by Teague to take the lead 90-85. Detroit tried to come back into the game but Atlanta held on to win 101-96.
Jeff Teague had 24 points and 11 assists, while forward Josh Smith had 22 points and 12 rebounds. Ivan Johnson and Marvin Williams combined to score 28 points off the bench for Atlanta.
Rodney Stuckey had 27 points for Detroit and Brandon Knight chipped in with 13. Will Bynum came off the bench to score 15 for Detroit, going 7 of 12 from the field. Since his return to the Detroit side following an injury, Stuckey has been on fire. He scored
15 points and shot 6 of 7 in Detroit’s Thursday night win over Washington.
The Hawks shot a mere 26.7% from the 3 point line, but were 48.1% from the field. They outnumbered the Pistons 30 to 16 in assists. They also had 12 turnovers, 4 less than Detroit. The Hawks scored 28 points in fast break and restricted the Pistons to only
15. They only totalled 27 fast break points in the two games at Detroit.
Atlanta is ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference at the moment, one win clear of Orlando. It has now won two in a row, and is 7-3 in its last 10.
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