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Tuesday's loss slipped the Hawks down to the eighth playoff seed, but they know there still is a good chance that they might see the Pistons again in the playoffs.
"If it ends up happening like that and we have to play them in the playoffs, we've got to go to work," said Al Horford, who had 12 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.
Richard Hamilton didn't shoot the ball particularly well on Tuesday. But his defense against Joe Johnson was vital to Detroit escaping with a 94-90 win. Johnson, who leads the Hawks in scoring with 20.3 points per game, had just 11 on Tuesday. Earlier this season, Hamilton's defense limited the All-Star to just five points. "I knew with the circumstances I was in, I knew if I played hard and played aggressive and defend ... just try to play defense on Joe and hopefully we'll get a win," Hamilton said. It wasn't clear until moments before tip-off if Hamilton, who had food poisoning, would even play. But even if he was at full strength, Hamilton knew his greatest contributions to a Pistons win would probably come on the defensive side of the ball. "When you play against him, you have to put your offense on hold a little bit, to try and slow him down some," said Hamilton, who had 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field. "So that's what I tried to do."
Against Charlotte on Sunday, it was Tayshaun Prince. The game before that, it was Chauncey Billups. On Tuesday, it was Rasheed Wallace's turn to have a big scoring night in the first quarter. Wallace led all Pistons with 21 points, 15 of which came in the first quarter. Wallace said his success early on was just a function of how the Hawks were defending. "Just taking what they give me," Wallace said. Wallace was hurting the Hawks with his 3-point shot, but he was equally effective scoring around the basket. As Wallace mixed in an array of turn-around jumpers near the basket, Atlanta showed no signs of trying to double team him in hopes of getting the ball out of his hands. "If they came to double, all I would have did was swing the ball to Chauncey or Rip or Tay, somebody out on that wing," Wallace said.Atlanta coach Mike Woodson, a Pistons assistant on the 2004 championship squad, acknowledges that Wallace is one of the toughest players to play against because of his versatility at both ends of the floor."He does everything you like to see in a big man," Woodson said. "So you can't key in on one thing with Rasheed Wallace."
Lindsey Hunter and Pistons assistant coach Dave Cowens, both suffering from flu-like symptoms, did not make the trip to Atlanta. ... Rasheed Wallace picked up his ninth technical foul in the fourth quarter.
"Man, it was like there was a lid on the basket for most of the game," Billups said. "I was getting pretty good looks, couldn't knock it down. "I was able to come back in the game fresh. Stuck (Rodney Stuckey) played great and made some big plays. I was able to come in fresh and try it back up again." Rookie guard Stuckey spelled Billups effectively, scoring 12 in 18 minutes. That set the stage for Billups to come back in the fourth, and begin launching 3s. "As we all know when Chauncey makes one, he can get going a little bit," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "We kept our poise, we locked down when we needed to."
Pistons center Rasheed Wallace was the star of the first quarter, scoring 15 of his 21. The Hawks had no answer for him, and the Pistons kept going to him. Wallace cooled a bit as the game went on, but fortunately for the Pistons, others took over. The Pistons reserves starred in the second quarter, with Amir Johnson and Rodney Stuckey scoring six points each, and Jarvis Hayes adding five.
But the Hawks kept playing hard, and launched into a 15-2 run in the third to tie the game at 64. Josh Smith, Al Horford and Anthony Johnson accounted for 20 of the Hawks 28 points in the quarter.
Perhaps Charles Barkley said it best about Rasheed Wallace last month. Barkley, the former great-turned-TNT analyst, was asked about Wallace's potential. To paraphrase, Barkley said Wallace could be the greatest player in NBA history because of his size and range of game -- if he played every night with a killer instinct. Wallace gave a classic glimpse of everything he could do -- good and bad -- Tuesday night against the Hawks, helping the Pistons win 94-90 at Philips Arena.
Wallace finished with 21 points, five steals and two blocks. Add in six fouls and one technical for the full picture. "I was just taking what they were giving me out there," Wallace said. "Nothing more." Wallace personally dismantled the Hawks in the first quarter, using the wide range of his arsenal. He scored 15 points and was 6-of-7 shooting.At one point in the first quarter, it was Wallace 15, Hawks 10
Wallace drew his fifth foul midway through the fourth quarter, with the Pistons down 81-78. Pistons coach Flip Saunders had a tough choice to make -- keep Wallace in or take him out. Saunders gambled, allowing Wallace to remain in the game. "Kind of went back and forth (on the decision)," Saunders said. "He's our best interior defender and sometimes with guys like that, you give them the benefit of the doubt and let them try to play with five. He's too valuable for what he does for us to have him sit at that point."
The Pistons are already keeping their eye on the postseason, starting their planning processes while the snow is still flying.
"We're doing things right now, we started doing things two, three weeks ago," Saunders said. "What you do is lock in on teams, and certain concepts from an offensive and defensive standpoint and we try to work against those concepts. So therefore it maybe helps people when the playoffs start."
Tuesday's win over the Hawks will likely be put into the playoff analysis database. The Hawks, right now, are the seventh-best team in the East, meaning they would play the Pistons if the first round started today.
The Pistons are already keeping their eye on the postseason, starting their planning processes while the snow is still flying.
"We're doing things right now, we started doing things two, three weeks ago," Saunders said. "What you do is lock in on teams, and certain concepts from an offensive and defensive standpoint and we try to work against those concepts. So therefore it maybe helps people when the playoffs start."
Tuesday's win over the Hawks will likely be put into the playoff analysis database. The Hawks, right now, are the seventh-best team in the East, meaning they would play the Pistons if the first round started today.
Rasheed Wallace was hit with his NBA-leading ninth tech of the season, thanks to Danny Crawford. And Sheed wasn't happy about it after the game, using some language I can't put into a family blog to describe Crawford and his calling of the game. Sheed's beef was that he was being held in the interior, and when he elbowed back to get position, Crawford would hit him for a foul. But if was complaining about Josh Smith traveling is what got him the whistle.
Rip Hamilton was quite under the weather, thanks to throwing up all night with the stomach flu/food poisoning. Anybody who has had that lovely condition has to give Rip a few props to even play tonight. I know I wouldn't have felt like playing.
Former Piston Dale Davis made a post-game appareance, drawing hugs, handshakes and friendly grief from Rasheed. Davis lives in Atlanta, and while he hasn't officially retired from the NBA, he's not currently playing.
Though more than two months remain on the regular-season schedule, the Pistons are already entering sweeps week. They can finish off 4-0 season series sweeps of Atlanta and Indiana on back-to-back nights, beginning in Atlanta this evening. By doing so, the Pistons can ride a 10-game winning streak heading into the All-Star break. Their current eight-game streak makes them the NBA's hottest team. "We've been successful against both of those teams thus far and I just look to continue that," Chauncey Billups said. "I look to try to get these last two wins and close the break out." As was the case during their 11-game winning streak spanning December and January, the Pistons are closing out opponents in the early going. They have led at halftime in seven of the eight games, with the exception a tie with Miami. In the last two games, they led Portland by 24 and Charlotte by 17 at halftime. The Pistons' vaunted starting unit has won the first quarter In 38 of their 50 games. Once they get the advantage, they rarely waste it. They're 34-4 when they've held a halftime lead.
For a change, coach Flip Saunders is getting asked about his team losing some of its intensity after taking a substantial lead. In previous years, the team often started sluggishly and then used its experience to put opponents away in the fourth quarter. "This team, for most of the time I've been here, they've always been criticized for coming out of the gate too slow," Saunders said. "We've been starting (well) and we've been able to hold on. It's given the starters an opportunity to rest and given our bench an opportunity to play." The Pistons have established a mental edge against their next two opponents, which could carry over into the postseason. If the season ended today, they would meet Atlanta in the first round. The Pistons hold the No. 2 spot behind Boston while the Hawks, despite being five games under .500, are currrently No. 7 in the conference. The Pacers have the same amount of wins as the Hawks, though they've played four more games. Last season, the Pistons swept Orlando in four regularseason games and repeated that success in the playoffs.
The Hawks have been unable to disrupt the Pistons' offensive execution this season, as the Pistons have shot 47.7 percent from the field while averaging 10 more assists per game. Tayshaun Prince has averaged 20 points the past two meetings, but sixth man Jason Maxiell has been the most consistent Hawks killer. He's averaging 12.7 points and 8.3 rebounds in the three games. Maxiell has cooled off since the start of the New Year, but the rest of the Pistons' bench has revved up. They have 87 points in the last two games. "It's good to be on the bench in the fourth quarter and watching those guys finish games for us," said Prince, who had a season-high five 3-pointers in the 113-87 win over the Bobcats Sunday. "More importantly, in the second quarters they've been doing a good job lately of keeping the lead, managing the game, playing confident and bringing a lot of energy to the game. It's been great to see. They've really been helping us out a whole lot."
The Pistons finished a season sweep of the Hawks on Tuesday night, winning their ninth straight, 94-90, behind a big first quarter from Rasheed Wallace and a strong finale from Chauncey Billups.
Five days after Billups scored 17 in a first quarter and two days after Tayshaun Prince opened with 14, it was Wallace's turn to get rolling early. He hit his first six shots and scored 17 points in the opening frame. Three baskets came from outside, and he also had a nifty assist to Prince with an over-the-shoulder pass. Wallace finished with 21 points, five steals and two blocks.
"He traveled like crazy, and that's all I said to (official) Danny (Crawford)," Wallace said. "I said, 'Danny, that's not a travel?' He said, 'Brrrrt.' I said, 'Danny, for saying that's a travel? You want me to go back to my old way, just start cussing you all the hell out all the damn time?"
Dirtgrain wrote:Dang. I missed the game, and this after I have been wondering about Josh Smith and what kind of player he is. From the box score, it looks like we got killed on the glass. Why didn't Amir Johnson get more minutes?
