The Hawks were dominant in the second half and ran away from the Pistons for a 130-105 victory Friday at State Farm Arena.
Here are five observations:
1. Trailing by three at halftime, the Hawks outscored the Pistons 35-18 in the third quarter led by Trae Young’s 15 points. Young, who finished with 26 points, not only find the right shots for himself but also kept his teammates involved with several of his team-high 13 assists during the quarter.
“I’ve played a lot of games and I’ve seen pretty much every type of defense so I’m just getting practice on different types of schemes,” Young said. “I know what to look for when guys are rolling or if my guy sets a screen for me I just I know. I know who to look at so I mean it’s just takes a lot of practice and just try and make the round always made the right read but it’s night I did and it was good.”
2. Along with Young’s excellent night, the Hawks had a strong game from Dejounte Murray, who also scored 26 points. Murray scored at key times in the first half to keep the Hawks close while Detroit scored 63 points before the break.
More importantly, Murray had five assists and only one turnover - helping the Hawks in an efficient effort in which they had 30 assists to just eight turnovers. It was the first time they have had fewer t
3. For the first time this season, the Hawks had a completely healthy roster. While they had all five starters healthy to start the season, they did not have their sharpshooter in Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Then they lost De’Andre Hunter, John Collins, Murray and Capela for multiple games over the 11 games.
But on Friday night, Young had several of his go-to options available to find the right shots among the starters. Then Bogdanovic gave the bench, which has struggled to put up consistent offense this season, a lift.
Bogdanovic chipped in 19 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter. The Hawks’ bench outscored the Pistons bench 51-30. It’s just the seventh time this season the Hawks’ second unit has outscored the opponent’s second unit.
4. Clint Capela’s return to the rotation provided a huge boost in the front court. The Hawks have greatly missed their defensive anchor, who ended the night with 10 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.
Ahead of the game, Pistons coach Dwane Casey praised Capela’s skills and how the Hawks utilized him on the defensive end.
“He has a knack of blocking shots and that’s something you can’t teach,” Casey said. “Some guys have it, some guys don’t. ”
5. Though the Hawks allowed the Pistons to score 63 points in the first half, they clamped down defensively and held them to 42 points in the second half. The Hawks held the Pistons to 18 points in the third quarter, scoring 35 of their own and seizing control.
“I think we just got a good feel the first half and to be honest, they were making some tough shots in the first half,” Young said. “I mean, (Bojan) Bogdanovic making some tough shots for them over contests and the rookie (Jaden Ivey) was playing really well pushing the ball. They were doing pretty well in that first half. In that second half they’re taking the same, pretty muhc type of shots, we were just forcing him to miss and it worked in our favor.”
Stat to know
+28 -- In the second half of tonight’s win, the Hawks outscored the Pistons 70-42 (+28), marking Atlanta’s largest positive point differential in a second half this season and largest since 5/5/21 (+30, vs. Phoenix) … The Hawks held Detroit to 42 points on .302 FG% (13-43 FG) and .235 3FG% (4-17 3FG) in the second half.
Quotable
“I thought we finished the fourth quarter. You know, in the last couple games, we’ve been a little sloppy in the fourth quarter and giving up leads and I thought tonight our guys played solid on both ends of the floor, kept the lead and continue to build off of it.” -- Nate McMillan on the team finishing strong
Up Next
The Hawks have a couple of days off for the holiday before they hit the road to face the Pacers.
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