The Hawks brought a butter knife to a gun fight.
The Atlanta Hawks battled the Detroit Pistons in a game that had Eastern Conference standings implications as the Hawks began the day a game in a half in front of the Pistons for sixth place. The Pistons had lost seven consecutive games in Atlanta, while the Hawks come in having won four consecutive home games.
I’ll skip to the chase — the Pistons are now ahead of the Hawks in standings after a 114-104 victory.
The Hawks started Onyeka Okongwu for the second straight game, as he has averaged 17.3 and 14 rebounds per game while shooting 63% from the field in his last four games. He finished this game with nine points and 10 rebounds.
Jalen Johnson had a monster dunk over Jalen Duren that sparked the Hawks in the opening quarter.
JALEN JOHNSON GOODNESS pic.twitter.com/p0bpkhLAwB
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 23, 2025
Dyson Daniels had eight first quarter points for the Hawks, however the Pistons would lead after the first quarter 36-26. The Hawks ended the quarter shooting 2-of-10 on three-pointers, shooting 20% while the Pistons were 4-for-6 (67%).
The Hawks got a huge lift from the bench as 13 out of 26 points came from the bench in the first quarter. De’Andre Hunter leads the league in points per game off the bench with 19.5 with a minimum of 25 games played. The Hawks are averaging 43.6 points per game in bench scoring which is third in the league.
It only got worse for the Hawks as they finished the half shooting 15% compared to 50% for the Pistons. The Pistons also outrebounded the Hawks 29-20 as they were faster to the ball in almost every offensive category.
The Pistons bench outscored the Hawks bench 29-19 in the half.
The Hawks also started the second quarter in a slump as they scored four points in the first four minutes in the quarter until Garrison Mathews connected on a three-pointer.
Bogdan Bogdanovic continue to struggle from the field as he was 0-for-6 in the first half in 12 minutes. It was a tough first half for the Hawks as they trailed 69-51 at halftime. The Pistons showed in the first half how athletic of a team they are as they closed out and challenge every Hawks shot.
The Hawks came out with more energy and better defense in the second half as the Hawks were able to get turnovers that led to fast break points. The Pistons were even better as they remained in controlled as their defense was too much for the Hawks to overcome. The largest lead was 22 points.
The Hawks did reduce the lead to 12 in the fourth, but the Pistons made some key plays to keep the Hawks out of reach. Detroit took the game 114-104.
The Pistons were led by Cade Cunningham as he had 29 points and 11 assists in the game. Trae Young had 13 points and nine assists while Johnson finished with 17 points and 9 rebounds.
One of the goals for the Hawks were to eliminate the turnovers, as they came in with 10 games where they have had 21 or more turnovers. They only ceded a total of 14 turnovers in the game, but it clearly wasn’t enough.