AJC: Atlanta Hawks at Pistons: Handling biz against bad teams

[Hawksquawk]

Auburn Hills, Mich.–The Pistons are bad. Historically bad. Blowing-a-25-point-lead-to-the-Raptors-at-home-bad. So bad that Magic called them out when he was back in East Lansing the other day:

As for the current Pistons, Johnson said they were a long way from the teams he faced in consecutive NBA Finals in the late 1980s.

“Too many individuals,” Johnson said. “You have to get back to what made them great, and that’s defense and rebounding. … What we see now is a team that’s soft. People from Detroit and Michigan can accept losing, but not the way they’re losing.”

The Hawks should win this game and the temptation is to say it won’t tell us anything about them. But the thing the Hawks almost always do win this kind of game. Their troubles against the good teams have been well documented, and they have to start winning more games like Thursday in Boston to be considered legit contenders in the East. But until the Hawks figure that part out, there’s something to be said for …

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