Hawks comeback falls short, lose to Pistons 122-121

Erased a 24-point hole but couldn’t get across the finish line.

The Atlanta Hawks were in Detroit on Friday evening to face the Pistons. This was the Hawks first game of a back-to-back, as they’ll be back home tomorrow to face the Chicago Bulls.

The Pistons have not played like the Pistons of the past to start the season, and head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has had the team playing physical and competitive. The Hawks are still dealing with injuries, but they’ve been able to manage for the time being.

Zaccharie Risacher started the game crashing the boards, and getting the floater to go.

Dyson Daniels turned defense to offense for this easy layup.

The Pistons got off to a double-digit lead, and the Hawks couldn’t get much going on offense. Things didn’t get much better for them as the quarter continued, the Pistons ended up leading 40-23.

The second quarter didn’t start well for the Hawks either, and the Hawks continued to dig themselves into a deeper hole. The Hawks were down as much as 24 points, but they began to weather the storm midway through. Garrison Mathews was a part of that run and got a steal and turned it into points on the other end.

More defense turned into the offense plays later with Dyson Daniels getting this steal and Trae Young finishing it.

The Pistons went on a run after and extended their lead back to 20 points, but the Hawks were able to cut it down to 13 going into halftime. The Hawks came out with much better energy in the third quarter and got it into single digits. Young continued piling up the points on the Pistons, and he got this three-pointer to go over Isaiah Stewart.

The Pistons would extend their lead once again, but it didn’t bother the Hawks, as they hampered down on defense and continued to get after it, cutting down their deficit to as little as three points. Jalen Johnson started to get it going down the stretch of the third, knocking down this three-pointer.

The Hawks started making more mental mistakes with less than a minute left, and the Pistons extended their lead back to double digits going into the fourth. The Hawks went on a 10-2 run midway through the fourth, knocking down big threes and getting crucial stops to cut down the Pistons lead. Larry Nance Jr. was big in the fourth, hitting multiple threes and slamming down a big dunk over two players.

Young continued his strong play, knocking another three-pointer.

The Hawks ended up tying the game, but the Pistons regained the lead, but Atlanta continued to fight. Dyson Daniels hit a big three with less than a minute to cut the Pistons’ lead to one point, and the Hawks got a stop on the other end. Young then came down and got fouled, knocked down both free throws to get a one-point lead with 12.5 seconds left.

Cade Cunnigham came out of the timeout and got the Pistons a bucket and the lead back with 8.5 seconds left. That was enough time for the Hawks to come down and get a shot, and Young set up Onyeka Okongwu for a dunk that was unfortunately blocked from the back by Cunningham.

Young finished with 35 points and 13 assists, Johnson finished with 20 points and nine rebounds, and Daniels finished with 18 points and seven steals.

The Hawks will be back at home against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.