Detroit Pistons head south to visit hapless Atlanta Hawks

After going 5-1 on their most recent home stand, the Detroit Pistons (27-27) will head to the Peach State to visit the Atlanta Hawks (17-39) on Sunday. The Hawks currently own the lowest winning percentage in the NBA at .304. If the Pistons are to make the playoffs, they’ll have to win games such as this.

For first time since trading for Blake Griffin, the Detroit Pistons will hit the road.

Stan Van Gundy and his team have a date with the Atlanta Hawks Sunday afternoon at Philips Arena. Tipoff is slated for 3:00 pm on Fox Sports Detroit.

In their two games against the Hawks this season, the Pistons have taken care of business.

Detroit beat Atlanta 111-104 back on Nov. 10.  Reggie Jackson finished with 22 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals.  On Dec. 14 it was Tobias Harris‘ 19 points that led the Pistons to a 105-91 victory.

The Hawks were just as bad then as they are now.

With Griffin joining Andre Drummond in the frontcourt, Detroit should easily exploit Atlanta’s interior defense.  Drummond has averaged 19.5 rebounds per game against the Hawks this season.  This will probably continue, given that Atlanta is 24th in team rebounding with an average of 40.8.

But that hasn’t stopped them from playing spoiler.  The Hawks have beaten the Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards and San Antonio Spurs this season.  How have they done it?  Look no further than their starting backcourt.

Point guard Dennis Schroder and shooting guard Kent Bazemore are averaging a combined 32.5 points per game in 2017-18.  Each of them shoot over 40 percent from the floor, and Bazemore is hitting 39 percent of his shots from the beyond the arc.

Both players are posting career highs in points, rebounds and assists per game.  When Paul Millsap and Dwight Howard left during free agency, Atlanta’s guard play became the focal point of their offense.

Yet the loss of their starting frontcourt proved to be too much.  Last season, the Hawks had the fourth-best defensive rating in the NBA, allowing just 105.7 points per 100 possessions.  This year, they’ve dropped all the way to No. 26.  Atlanta is giving up 110.8 points per 100 possessions.

Isolation scorers like Griffin thrive off of poor defensive teams.  It’s much easier to bait them into committing a foul, something Griffin is adept at doing.  Look for him, and the Pistons, to have a field day in the ATL.