Pistons at Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks look to get back on track after two straight rough outings on the defensive end when they host the struggling Detroit Pistons on Friday. The Hawks gave up an average of 120.5 points and allowed better than 54 percent shooting in losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland after building a four-game winning streak. The Pistons are hungry for a victory after dropping six of their last seven, and shot 37.9 percent from the field in an 88-86 loss to Phoenix on Wednesday.
Detroit has scored at least 100 points just once this season – in a loss to Washington – and is near the bottom of the league in scoring (92.4) and shooting percentage (41.3). Atlanta has not had trouble on the offensive end with four players scoring at least 13 per game, led by Paul Millsap’s 18. The Hawks, who finished 24-17 at home last season, have won four of their first five games in Atlanta.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, SportSouth (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (3-9): There are only two teams with a worse record in the Eastern Conference and frustrations are boiling over as coach Stan Van Gundy and forward Josh Smith had a brief verbal altercation during the Phoenix game. Smith, who is averaging 12.5 points and shooting 36.9 percent from the field, played a season-low 23 minutes against the Suns. Brandon Jennings leads the team in scoring (16.6) and is making 41.7 percent of his 3-point attempts while Greg Monroe averages 15.8 points and 10.5 rebounds.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (5-5): Forward Al Horford is off to a strong start after missing the last 53 games of 2013-14 with a torn pectoral muscle, averaging 13.8 points and 6.8 rebounds while shooting 53.8 percent from the field. The return of Horford will continue to give more operating space to Millsap, point guard Jeff Teague (15.8 points, seven assists) and sharp-shooting Kyle Korver (13.7 points, 56.1 from 3-point range). The Hawks will likely be without small forward DeMarre Carroll (groin) for a fifth consecutive game.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Atlanta SG Thabo Sefolosha has scored in double figures four straight games after averaging 3.7 in his first six contests.
2. Detroit SF Caron Butler reached 12,000 points in his career Wednesday and is two shy of 800 games played.
3. The Pistons have won the last two games in the series, but have dropped 10 of the last 11 at Atlanta.