The Hawks came into the day with a lot of questions on the injury report, but they were pretty clear by the time tip-off rolled around.
De’Andre Hunter and Clint Capela both were available for the game, but Bogdan Bogdanovic was going to have to miss his second straight game. Against most teams in the NBA, that would make a big difference, but the Hawks had the privilege of playing against one of the worst teams in recent NBA history. Detroit came into this game on a 23-game losing streak and Atlanta was looking to send them to another.
Atlanta had their usual starting five tonight. Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, Hunter, Saddiq Bey and Capela got the start for the Hawks.
Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Bojan Bogdanovic, Ausar Thompson, and Marvin Bagley III were the starters from the Pistons. Detroit was without Jalen Duren, Killian Hayes, Monte Morris, and Isaiah Stewart.
You could tell early on in this game why the Pistons have been struggling so much. Their defense was poor and the Hawks, who came into the game 4th in the NBA in PPG, took full advantage.
The Hawks started on a 17-8 run in the first five minutes and hit five three-pointers. Dejounte Murray led the offense from the jump and Hunter hit his first two three-point attempts.
It was going to be interesting to see the bench rotation for the Hawks tonight with Bogdanovic out. In the first quarter, Onyeka Okongwu, Garrison Matthews, Wesley Matthews, and rookie Seth Lundy got their first minutes as an Atlanta Hawks. He looked active on defense and did not play poorly.
It was a dominant first quarter for the Hawks. They led 38-25 and were putting up absurd numbers shooting the basketball. Atlanta was shooting 68% from the field and 75% from three. Young had six points and four assists, and Murray had nine points, three assists, and two rebounds.
Detroit shot 33.3% from the field in the first and 16.7% from three. They are one of the NBA’s worst offenses and it showed.
While the Pistons are one of the NBA’s worst offenses, they found a rhythm in the second quarter behind Cunningham and Bogdanovic, who had 12 points each in the first quarter. They closed the lead to 61-52 at the half and were guarding the Hawks much better, aside from Dejounte Murray having 17 points.
Atlanta shot 52.2% in the first half and 45.0% from three. Young had eight points and six assists and Capela was nearing a double-double with eight points and eight rebounds. After the Hawks looked like they were going to pull away, Detroit did just enough to stay in the game.
Detroit opened up the third quarter on an 11-7 run and had the lead down to five, but the Hawks went on a run of their own to get the lead to 85-69 at the next timeout. Bogdanovic and Cummingham were leading this Detroit offense and keeping them in the game.
Despite all of that though, Atlanta kept them at arm’s length and led 96-84 after three quarters.
Things did get uncomfortable for the Hawks in the second half. Detroit got the lead down to six and Atlanta was going to have to respond.
And that is what they did.
Atlanta stayed in front, but it was not the cleanest win. The offense late in the game could not get anything going and it allowed Detroit to hang around. The Hawks would remain in front though thanks to Trae Young and his fourth consecutive 30-point, 10-assist game. The Hawks got a 130-124 win and moved their record to 11-15.
The Hawks shot 54.1% from the field and 44.4% from three for the game. Young had 31 points and 15 assists, Bey had 21 points, Murray had 20, Hunter had 19, and Capela had 17 points and 15 rebounds.
It was a great game for the Pistons franchise point guard. Cade Cunningham had 43 points, seven assists, and five rebounds. Bogdanovic had 25 points and was 5-9 from three. Detroit shot 51.1% from the field and 40.9% from three.
The Hawks will head to Houston on Wednesday for their first matchup of the season against the Rockets.
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