Game Thread: Hawks @ Pistons -- 12/23

[Jamaaliver]

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[Jamaaliver]

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[hawkmanreturns]

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Bummer. I'm not sure if this is the same ankle or not but I hate it for him. He just got into a good rhythm. I hope he won't be out for an extended period of time.

[ducler]

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[DirtybirdGA]

Drummond owned Carter..

[Jamaaliver]

Huerter just came off a screen and nailed a mid range jumper from 18 feet out.

A flawless play getting a great shooter an open shot from the elbow.

Love it!!!

#NotAllMidRangeShotsAreBad

[Jamaaliver]

Drummond owned Carter..

Agreed. SFs shouldn't guard Centers.

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[DirtybirdGA]

It just looked bad at the time seeing Drummond picking Carter out front.

[Jamaaliver]

^lol

It's all good. I think Vince heard you and stepped up his offensive game accordingly.

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[DirtybirdGA]

Trae is back to playing badly despite what nique said

[lethalweapon3]

(on the road, sorry it's late. Go Hawks!)


These Detroit Pistons, it’s like Christmas pudding… I just don’t get it!

Andre Drummond with the ball in the post, and on putbacks, has got to be a certified bucket. Blake Griffin can get off whatever shots he wants in isolation. If all else fails, there’s one of the surest perimeter shooters in the league in Reggie Bullock.

How does THIS team get to be 29th-ranked in field goal percentage?

I don’t have the answers. But as the Atlanta Hawks prepare for a final pre-holiday match with the Pistons (4:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Fox Sports Detroit), my real concern is, I’m not all that sure Dwane Casey has them, either.

The reigning NBA Coach of the Year needed one of this season’s finalists, Nick Nurse, to make chicken cordon bleu out of a chicken scratch offense that relied for years on buckets by the hot-and-cold Kyle Lowry, and the inefficient DeMar DeRozan. Now in Detroit,
Casey is having a hard time keeping these Boys from looking so Bad on that end of the floor.

Stan Van Gundy got the boot after closing out last season’s 39-43 campaign with a 9-4 flourish. Casey inherited virtually SVG’s entire roster, excepting vets Zaza Pachulia and Jose Calderon, free agent Glenn Robinson III (out since mid-December, sprained ankle), and second-round rookie Bruce Brown. They can’t possibly be missing Anthony Tolliver and James Ellis THAT much.

Casey, and his newly crafted coaching staff, has had a full summer to incorporate last year’s midseason pickup Griffin, Drummond, a healthy Reggie Jackson, and second-year wing Luke Kennard into his game-planning. Yet the coach’s inputs haven’t rendered a blip on the Pistons’ offensive radar. Aside from opponents’ ability to continue Hack-a-Drumming (52.1 FT% for Detroit’s center) to their hearts’ content, it appears as though it’s the stale supporting cast beyond Griffin, Drummond, and Bullock that’s weighing Detroit down.

Kennard and the injured Henry Ellenson (ankle sprain) show no signs of breaking through anytime soon. Stanley Johnson has improved his interior scoring, but he remains a young defensive option that is better suited for the bench. The Stanimal had 22 bench points on 4-for-9 3FGs plus 3 steals in one of his last hurrahs, the Pistons’ 124-109 win at State Farm Arena back on November 9.

Langston Galloway (5-for-9 3FGs vs. ATL last month) joined Johnson as the difference makers when last these teams met, a night when Griffin seemed to suffer from Buckhead Flu symptoms as a shooter (2-for-10 FGs, but 9 assists). Yet, much like Kennard (32.5 3FG%), it’s hard to ascertain what Galloway (33.1 3FG%) provides his team (1.3 APG, 0.4 SPG) when he’s not making triples.

That leaves few productive passing options for Jackson (23.4 assist%, lowest since his backup years at OKC, five seasons ago), who isn’t looking to dish much anyway (46.0 percent of his shots are 3FGAs; 33.7 3FG%). Neither is the drive-happy reserve Ish Smith, who has been out with a groin muscle tear. So Coach Casey has been turning more frequently to the 37-year-old emergency backup Calderon (over 20 MPG, nearly six APG in the past seven games) to help the Pistons regain momentum.

Calderon entered Wednesday’s game in Minnesota at the start of the fourth quarter, with the Pistons down by 14, and sparked the comeback (two assisted and-1’s by Blake, a pair of assisted threes) that allowed Detroit to erase the deficit and force a successful overtime shift.

The momentary Hawk was unable to bail out Jackson (3-for-10 FGs, 4 assists in 28 minutes, team-worst minus-14) on Friday night, a 98-86 loss in Charlotte where the Pistons managed to shoot just 8-for-34 on threes and 39 percent overall. Yet Calderon has been succeeding where Jackson has not, thus far, by giving Griffin confidence not to hog the ball at the three-point line and waste possession time away.

Bullock has become the Reggie that Griffin entrusts. “I feel like I’m the best shooter in the league,” the sixth-year swingman remarked, and with good reason, after his career-high 33 points (7-for-12 3FGs) keyed Detroit’s mid-week road victory. That blew away his prior career-best scoring mark from two nights before, 24 points here at Little Caesars Arena as the Pistons nearly knocked off their high-flying division rival Bucks on Monday.

Griffin says he’ll do his part to get Bullock, whose shooting prowess may command a nice payday this summer, to festivities on All-Star Saturday Night. “I want him to be in that 3-Point shooting contest,” Blake campaigned after Wednesday’s win. For Detroit’s offense to truly flourish, beyond merely getting the big guns some help, Blake (career-highs of 25.6 PPG but 3.8 TOs/game) needs to find more ways to draw defensive attention without the ball in his hands.

He’s getting to the free throw line and scoring more than he ever did with Chris Paul handling the rock, yet his team’s offense (4th-worst eFG% and TS% in NBA) is as functionally dormant as can be in this modern day. Drummond (NBA-high 15.5 RPG, incl. career-high 5.7 O-Rebs/game) can only do so much, but it’s telling, about this team, that his passing productivity (1.2 APG) is way down from his last All-Star season (a breakout 3.0 APG in 2017-18).

The Hawks, meanwhile, have to be Grinches and steal opportunities for the Pistons to sit on the ball until they find an offensive matchup to their liking. Keeping Drummond off the glass is a tall order for anybody. But for coach Lloyd Pierce, his Hawks will need productive players creating stops on the floor throughout the game, be it Kent Bazemore, DeAndre’ Bembry, Justin Anderson and Kevin Huerter at the wing positions, or Dewayne Dedmon (1.1 SPG, 1.0 BPG) creating a stir in the paint while Alex Len helps him contain Drummond.

With or without the red-hot John Collins (questionable following a sprained ankle @ NYK), will the Hawks protect the ball and defend actively enough to stash another lump of coal on the road, this time in the Pistons’ stocking, before heading home for the Christmas break? If they get on a roll, you better watch out!

Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Festivus and Season’s Greetings! Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3

[DirtybirdGA]

ATL meltdown incoming.

[HMFFL]

Nice lead so far!
Detroit has a beautiful arena if you haven't been. The ceiling grid is all led lighting that can be programmed to change colors. It makes watching WWE or concerns even better.

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[hawkmanreturns]

Gritty win. The Hawks have really kicked it up a notch on the defensive end lately.

[bws94]

I think it's part of Trae's apprenticeship to sometimes sit out late games and watch more experienced players. They make mistakes too but then they make clutch plays. Overall, Trae is improving and has an upward trajectory. I think the Pistons deserved to lose and I'm glad they lost. I just don't care for Blake and his choke FTs were very satisfying to watch.

[Jamaaliver]

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[lethalweapon3]

"Shooting percentages, pooting shercentages!"

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~lw3

[ATL Boy]

Hawks did their best to fumble this one away (assisted by some ridiculous shots by Langston Galloway), but in the end Blake Griffin being super unclutch and missing 2 FTs helped us get out of their with a win.

Had Lloyd Pierce left Trae Young in there instead of yanking him for Lin with 4 mins left we would've lost this. Young was at the point where he was chucking shots (and getting blocked at the rim) and turning it over on nearly every possession. Lin was a steady influence, knocked down his FTs to ice it and scored a nice reverse layup in a big moment. 3-game win streak heading back home.