SLAM DUNK – The precision which with the Pistons played offensively in building a 26-point lead Friday to rip Charlotte? Nowhere in evidence 24 hours later against Atlanta. At least not at the start. The Pistons missed their first seven shots and finished the first quarter with as many turnovers (five) as baskets, shooting below 30 percent. When they clawed back to within nine points from 19 down at the end of the third quarter, they shot 2 of 17 to open the fourth and Atlanta made them pay. The Pistons missed their first seven shots and were 5 of 19 with five turnovers in a 15-point first quarter in which they fell 13 points down. Atlanta led by double digits most of the night, answering every Pistons run – to eight late in the first half, to seven late in the third quarter – with surges of their own. Mostly, Atlanta hit big shots and particularly big 3-point shots. The Hawks hit 13 triples and shot 38 percent from the arc, getting triples from seven different players, while the Pistons hit just 24 percent and were outscored by 18 points from the 3-point line. The loss snapped the Pistons’ season-long five-game winning streak and made them 5-2 with two games remaining on their nine-game home stand with both losses to Atlanta. The good news: Chicago lost big at Orlando, its third straight loss to lottery-bound teams, to stay two games behind the Pistons. And Indiana, ahead of the Pistons by percentage points but essentially tied in the standings, lost at Brooklyn.
FREE THROW – The Pistons don’t need wildly efficient scoring out of all three positions surrounding the Andre Drummond-Reggie Jackson pick-and-roll action, but they are going to struggle to win on any time they got what Marcus Morris, Tobias Harris and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope gave them in the first half against Atlanta when they shot a combined 5 of 20. When Harris came to life in the third quarter, hitting 6 of 7 shots en route to 13 points, the Pistons also found their passing gear on offense, scoring 32 points in the quarter after being held to 42 in the first half. Morris had been on a terrific run, shooting 16 of 24 from the arc over his past five games, but shot just 3 of 12 overall and 1 of 6 inside the arc. Harris carried the offense in the second half to finish with 21 points, 10 boards and five assists. Caldwell-Pope finished with nine points and 3 of 13 and Jackson also struggled, shooting 4 of 12 and just 2 of 8 inside the arc. Combine that output with a supbar night from the bench, scored just seven combined points through three quarters before getting extensive playing time over the last five minutes, and the Pistons just didn’t have enough firepower to counter an Atlanta attack in which eight players reached double figures
3-POINTER – Aron Baynes has been Stan Van Gundy’s most consistent bench player all season, but he’s been playing especially well lately. Since the All-Star break, Baynes came into Saturday’s game averaging 6.8 points and 4.9 rebounds in 16 minutes a game. His minutes per game have ticked up – he averaged 14 minutes before the break – and that’s partly due to a conscious effort by Stan Van Gundy to cut back some of Andre Drummond’s minutes but also because Baynes is playing at a high level and a response to opponents’ increasingly aggressive use of intentionally fouling Drummond, a 36 percent foul shooter. Atlanta has been among the most aggressive teams to intentionally foul the Pistons, but used the tactic just once in the first three quarters. Drummond made both foul shots and finished 5 of 9. Baynes had some ups and downs early in the season after being limited to conditioning work until training camp opened due to off-season ankle surgery and then suffering a broken nose in November. He’d scored 29 points in the last two games and finished with 15 points and eight rebounds in less than 17 minutes against the Hawks, his third straight game in double digits.
