Hawks at Pistons
Two teams that appear to be heading in opposite directions will meet for the second time in three nights as the Atlanta Hawks visit the Detroit Pistons on Friday to complete a home-and-home series. Paul Millsap had 19 points on Wednesday, helping to spoil the return of former Hawks standout Josh Smith in a 93-85 Atlanta win. Jeff Teague added 18 points for the Hawks, who have won five of seven, and DeMarre Carroll notched 11 points to go with a career-high 12 rebounds.
Brandon Jennings led the way for Detroit on Wednesday, scoring 21 points and Rodney Stuckey turned in 18 off the bench as the Pistons fell to 2-6 in their last eight following a 2-1 start. Smith, who inked a free-agent deal with Detroit after nine seasons with Atlanta, finished with 11 points on just 5-of-15 shooting. The Pistons played without Chauncey Billups (knee), Will Bynum (hamstring) and Charlie Villanueva (back) and all are considered day-to-day.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, SportSouth (Atlanta), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE HAWKS (7-5): Millsap returned against Detroit one game after missing Atlanta's loss to Miami on Tuesday with an elbow injury. Teague's 18.4 points per game leads the Hawks, while Al Horford, who notched just 10 his last time out, contributes 17.4. Atlanta is among the leaders in field-goal percentage, knocking down 47.7 percent of its attempts.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (4-7): Smith told the Detroit Free Press it was a but surreal walking into Philips Arena to face his old team. "It was very odd," he said. "It was kind of a surreal moment." The Atlanta native is averaging 16 points in his first season with the Pistons, second to Jennings' 16.8.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Detroit has lost three of its last four meetings with Atlanta.
2. Hawks SG Kyle Korver shot 2-of-3 from 3-point range on Wednesday, pulling him to within four games of matching Dana Barros' NBA record of 89 consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer.
3. The Pistons are allowing 101.2 points per game after allowing only 93 to Atlanta.