FAST BREAKDOWN
Three quick observations from Friday night's 121-85 win over the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena
SLAM DUNK – You'd have to go back to the salad days of the Goin' to Work era Pistons to find a more impressive road trip than the 3-0 week the Pistons concluded with their thoroughly dominant win at Atlanta. It started with a back-to-back sweep of Charlotte and Boston and ended with a crushing win over another 2016 playoff team that entered the night ahead of them in the standings. The Pistons leapfrogged the Hawks with the win and went above .500 at 11-10 as they won for the fifth time in the last six games. Over the three-game trip, the Pistons discovered their 3-point shooting, making a season-high 12 at Charlotte, hitting 9 of 20 at Boston and coming back with 17 more makes against the Hawks to smash their season high. They played strong defensive games at Charlotte and Atlanta, holding the Hawks to 36 percent, and their best offensive game of the season at Boston. And they outrebounded all three teams, by 19 at Boston and by 22 at Atlanta. The Pistons got off to a strong start, leading 11-2 early, but it was a 20-2 run in the second quarter that launched with the Pistons holding the Hawks scoreless on 12 straight possessions. Atlanta played without Paul Millsap and was back at home for the first game since finishing a 0-4 Western road swing that ended Wednesday at Phoenix. Georgia native Kentavious Caldwell-Pope got the Pistons out of the chute with 15 first-quarter points and finished with 23, hitting 5 of 8 from the 3-point line. Andre Drummond put up 14 points and 14 rebounds and dominated his matchup with Dwight Howard, who finished with two points and six rebounds. Eight Pistons finished in double figures.
FREE THROW – Reggie Jackson's return is around the corner – keep reading – but Ish Smith's play of late has eliminated any feelings of panic or needlessly rushing Jackson back. Over his last eight games, Smith has racked up 51 assists against just three turnovers. Coming off his best game of the season in Wednesday's win at Boston (19 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, zero turnovers, 9 of 12 shooting), Smith was strong again with 11 points, five rebounds and 13 assists and just one turnover, which came midway through the third quarter when he hit Andre Drummond down the middle in transition, a pass Drummond couldn't quite handle. Smith came into the game second (Andre Iguodala) among all NBA players in assists-to-turnovers ratio and first among point guards, coming out of the Atlanta game with a 4.36 ratio. The Pistons got good minutes out of Beno Udrih, as well. He shot 5 of 6 and scored 11 points with three assists.
3-POINTER – Reggie Bullock will undergo surgery on Saturday in Detroit, but the Pistons won't have a timetable on his return until after the operation, Stan Van Gundy said. It depends on the specifics of what Dr. Todd Frush finds and the course of action he takes based on that finding, Van Gundy said. Bullock flew back to Detroit from Atlanta on Friday after coming to a conclusion about how to address the torn left knee meniscus suffered in a Nov. 23 win over Miami. Earlier, Van Gundy had said the most invasive of procedures could sideline Bullock for four months. As for Reggie Jackson, Van Gundy said he would discuss with his staff on the flight home after Friday's impressive win whether to practice on Saturday. It had been a scheduled day off, given that the team wasn't expected to land until 2 a.m. or later. The change was considered to benefit Jackson and his desire to get at least one more practice under his belt before declaring himself ready to return from a platelet-rich plasma injection in his left knee, which was diagnosed with tendinosis in early October. He underwent the procedure on Oct. 10, at which time a timetable of six to eight weeks was established for his return. Monday will mark eight weeks.
