Pistons at Hawks
The Detroit Pistons snapped a five-game losing streak with a 103-96 win at Orlando on Wednesday as the bench stepped up to support the starters. The Pistons are looking for a similar effort when they close out their two-game road trip by visiting the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.
Langston Galloway was the only reserve to manage more than four points in a 120-115 overtime loss to the Miami Heat on Monday but the unit turned things around when Stanley Johnson and Ish Smith stepped up to support Galloway among the bench crew on Wednesday. "I thought their level of activity, their level of pursuit, their defensive intensity was at an all-time high," Pistons coach Dwane Casey told reporters. "I thought that was the best thing about that unit." The Hawks are at the beginning of a transition to a younger team and are starting at least two rookies. Those youngsters nearly pulled off a comeback win over the New York Knicks on Wednesday but ended up falling 112-107 after putting up 35 points in the fourth quarter.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Detroit-Plus, FS Southeast (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE PISTONS (5-5): The biggest surprise on Wednesday came from Johnson, who scored 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting and went 3-of-6 from 3-point range. The 22-year-old lost his starting spot in part because of his shooting struggles and went scoreless in Monday's loss after going a combined 2-of-11 from the floor in the previous two contests. "That's the Stanley Johnson we need and that's the Stanley Johnson we want," Smith told reporters. "When he's playing clear minded, just playing and not overthinking it, it makes him so much better. Just react instead of overthinking. It gives him a lot of confidence. When he's playing at that level, that makes our team so much better."
ABOUT THE HAWKS (3-8): No. 5 overall pick point guard Trae Young is the star of the Atlanta rookie class, but power forward Omari Spellman is carving out his own niche and scored a season-high 20 points while going 6-of-11 from the floor and knocking down three 3-pointers on Wednesday. Spellman also added 10 rebounds for his first double-double and collected four assists and three blocks. "I was just trying to make the right plays, statistically it showed up," Spellman told reporters. "Unfortunately, we still lost, which is tough."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pistons C Andre Drummond collected 23 points and 19 rebounds on Wednesday, narrowly missing his fifth 20-20 game of the young season.
2. Young is 3-of-23 from 3-point range over the last four games.
3. Detroit took three of the four meetings last season.