Official Game Thread: Hawks - Pistons

[lethalweapon3]

The most confident 12-22 team you’ll ever see will be in action tonight, going for their fifth straight win at the Palace of Auburn Hills. And the Detroit Pistons can probably thank the Atlanta Hawks for their sudden invigoration.

Detroit has come out on top in five of its last six NBA games. But despite back-to-back wins against the hapless Wizards at the start of this string, it was probably the fourth quarter comeback against the Hawks in Atlanta the day after Christmas, leading to a late overtime loss, which propelled the Pistons to the pretty nice homestand that followed. They snuffed out defending champ Miami (shorthanded without Dwyane Wade, but still) two nights later, followed by victories over then-first-place division foe Milwaukee and Sacramento.

They’re perhaps most thankful for the thawing of former Yellow Jacket Will Bynum off their bench. Much like AC/DC’s Brian Johnson, Hawk guards got shook all night long by the six-foot Bynum, to the tune of 31 points (off 28 shots in 36 minutes) and 4 assists. But at the next game against Miami, without Wade to chase him around, he was even more efficient, with 25 points (off 19 shots in 25 minutes), plus 10 assists to just two turnovers. Even if Rodney Stuckey returns from an ankle injury (Brandon Knight tweaked his on Wednesday but is expected to play), it will be tough for Coach Lawrence Frank to keep Bynum out of the starting lineup. Oh, and, warning alert: today is Bynum’s 30^th birthday.

The Hawks, now 12-4 in back-to-back games, are faced with the routine quandary of when to play DeShawn Stevenson. Do you bring him in to help bedevil Bynum and any Piston wing who gets hot, or do you save him up for the next night against Paul Pierce and the stumbling Celtics?

Just in: DeShawn tweeted he’s a no-go tonight, so reigning Coach of the Month Larry Drew has his work cut out for him to keep Bynum from having a repeat performance. Tonight may be Star Wars Night at the Palace, but not even Obi-Wan Kenobi can help Jeff Teague if he’s having trouble with Bynum’s lateral quickness off the dribble. Kyle Korver (1.1 SPG, highest in eight seasons) will be needed for his continuously disruptive team defense, and sharpshooting John Jenkins will need to keep his defensive assignment from losing him.

Detroit’s also thankful to the Hawks for granting Austin Daye a return to basketball relevancy. His three point shot in Atlanta gave them a one-point lead with four seconds remaining in regulation, causing him to get Clowney’d on a celebratory hip-check-slash-chest-bump from Greg Monroe. Daye’s heroics carried over to the next few games, including his first two double-digit scoring efforts of the year. A dunk in transition off a nice pass from Bynum doused the HEAT, while his three-point dagger with 11 seconds left deposed the Kings for good. During this six-game tear by the Pistons, Daye is 10-for-14 from three-point range. He was 15-for-41 before that.

Of course, Detroit’s most thankful for the exuberant play of their eighth-leading scorer. With all due respect to Damian Lillard, we could very well be looking at the Rookie of the Year if Andre Drummond (21.7 PER, 17^th in the league) got starter’s minutes. SB Nation’s Detroit Bad Boys blog notes that his per-minute production actually went up in December as his minutes off the bench were increased from November. He’s ranks sixth in the NBA for per-minute rebounds (third in offensive rebounds per minute), first in per-possession offensive rebounds, and eighth in per-minute blocks (sixth in per-possession blocks), among NBA players getting more than 15 minutes per game. With 46 total dunks (9^th in the NBA), he’s slamming his way to a top-ten field goal percentage (58.4 FG%).

Drummond hasn’t gone off since putting up 16 points and 12 rebounds (7 offensive) in 36 minutes at Atlanta. But the 19-year-old continues drawing opponents in and making life easier for Detroit’s outside shooters. One night after going 14-for-27 from three-point range, the Pistons shot 12-for-19 against the HEAT.

The Hawks’ offensive plan should be pretty straightforward: attack the rim with reckless abandon when Drummond is not on the floor patrolling the middle. Detroit will happily let opponents take shots in the long-range-two (35.4 opponent FG%, 4^th-lowest in NBA) and three-point (33.3 opponent 3FG%, 4^th-lowest) areas against their long-limbed forwards, hoping you’ll ignore the 16.8 field goals per game (7^th most in NBA) they give up at the rim.

Detroit's interior defense often collapses when Monroe steps out to help on defense. Starting forwards Jason Maxiell (1.4 BPG, a career-high by far, despite just one swat in his last four games) and Kyle Singler (less foul-prone as of late, down to 2.8 PF per game) are helping out as best they can, but cutters can create problems for the Pistons. Aside from occasional flashes from 32-year-old relic Tayshaun Prince, there’s not much more help the Pistons can rely on when Monroe abdicates the painted area. Charlie Villanueva is more known lately for his D-as-in-Dirty than D-as-in defense, absorbing a hefty fine for Bruising Isaiah on a clock-expired layup attempt in the Kings game, while Jonas Jerebko and Corey Maggette are proving themselves to be a grand exercise in redundancy.

Atlanta will need to see a strong night from the pride of Grand Ledge. Al Horford averaged 19 PPG in his last six games, but managed just 3 rebounds in 41 minutes against the Hornets, and ZERO free throw ATTEMPTS in his last three games. He must be an effective banger in the paint and must not be drawn into a strict high-post jump-shooting and passing contest with Monroe, who would also do himself some good making offensive plays closer in (32 FG% away from the rim, down from 40% last year). Horford will need help from Zaza Pachulia and the forwards to keep Drummond from doing damage off the glass. Johan Petro (back) will not be available to help the frontline, so there’s that.

Go Hawks!

~lw3

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[macdaddy]

Let's go. If LD is worth his paycheck Bynum will not be scoring 30 tonight unless its from the free throw line.

[MrMeltdown]

We will probably get blown out

[benhillboy]

That Drummond kid might have a future ahead of him.

[benhillboy]

Boy this team is never out of any game. 3:13 mark, down one, lets go.

[MrMeltdown]

Fought hard but still lost

[jhay610]

Tough call with Al's toe. If only he was a size smaller.

The Pistons executed very poorly down the stretch and deserved to lose that game, but the Hawks didn't really do enough to win it, either.

Edited January 5, 2013 by jhay610

[Plainview1981]

This franchise is a freakin' joke. Good job Ferry... You have a team that is bad enough to not get a great draft pick, but not good enough to get out of the first round.

Yeah, he has really changed the franchise. No, it's the same old shit.

Edited January 5, 2013 by Hotlanta1981

[Plainview1981]

This season will turn out to be completely worthless. Unless you get excited by a meaningless token playoff appearance. Josh riding the bench against Detroit. It's time to cut the cord on that failure of a player and deal him.

Edited January 5, 2013 by Hotlanta1981

[Guest]

This season will turn out to be completely worthless. Unless you get excited by a meaningless token playoff appearance. Josh riding the bench against Detroit. It's time to cut the cord on that failure of a player and deal him.

Josh re-aggravated his hip - that is why he was riding the bench in the 4th.

[Plainview1981]

Josh re-aggravated his hip - that is why he was riding the bench in the 4th.

I fell asleep and woke up in the early-mid 4th period. The broadcasters didn't say anything about an injury, but Bob just mentioned that they were making the run with Josh on the bench.

[Gray Mule]

As bad as everything else went, Hawks had a horrible

night @ the free throw line.

12-20 = 8 points left on the line. We lost by one point.

60% just doesn't get the job done. All these guys make

big $$$$ to play this game and can't make their free throws.

Ugh.

[Plainview1981]

They don't care either way Gray.

[Guest]

I fell asleep and woke up in the early-mid 4th period. The broadcasters didn't say anything about an injury, but Bob just mentioned that they were making the run with Josh on the bench.

LD said it in his post-game press conference.

Edited January 5, 2013 by JayBirdHawk

[Plainview1981]

LD said it in his post-game press conference.

Well, I hardly ever listen to the post-game press conference.

[Guest]

Well, I hardly ever listen to the post-game press conference.

Well, I always do.

[AHawks89]

[Plainview1981]

Well, I always do.

I'm sure Larry Drew is glad to hear that someone likes to hear him talk.

[Plainview1981]

Detroit shot just as bad at the free throw line as the Hawks basically. They also only shot 41% from the field and 20% in three's. Yet they get the win. ugh. No wonder the people in Atlanta would probably rather watch The Dream.

[capstone21]

Josh re-aggravated his hip - that is why he was riding the bench in the 4th.

We played better tonight when he went to the bench. We went on our run with Zaza playing inside and al at the pf. Before that we were horrible.So close with the three pointer. Teague did get away with a foul when he got that 'steal'