The Detroit Pistons will try to carry their success on the road to a place where they’ve struggled when they visit the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
The Pistons are 12-10 away from home after Monday’s 107-96 victory at Houston, the first leg of a five-game road trip. But Detroit has lost seven in a row in Atlanta, its last victory coming there on Jan. 18, 2020.
The Pistons seem to relish games in a hostile environment.
“Oddly enough, our guys kind of thrive on the road, whatever those environments bring to them,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “I think it just highlights how connected this group is and how they like to play in those environments. They like to be put in a situation where it’s Detroit vs. everybody and it seems that’s when we tend to be at our best.”
This will be the second meeting between the two teams this season. Detroit won 122-121 in Detroit on Nov. 8 when Cade Cunningham scored with 8.5 seconds remaining.
Cunningham had a triple-double (22 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists) in that win over the Hawks, one of seven he’s recorded this season. Cunningham is averaging career highs across the board with 24.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 9.3 assists through 39 games.
“He wants to be coached, and anybody in this business who wants to reach their potential wants to be coached,” Bickerstaff said. “That makes my job easier. He has no problem with me having hard conversations with him, so we can hold him to a standard. He holds himself to a high standard. He had 10 turnovers (against Houston) and that’s obviously a lot, but he facilitates the game and we’ve got the ultimate trust in him that when it matters most, he’ll make the right play.”
The Hawks had their three-game winning streak snapped on Monday when they were beaten 119-110 at New York. Turnovers continue to be a problem for Atlanta, which ranks No. 6 in the NBA with 16.1 turnovers per game. The Hawks gave it away 23 times against the Knicks, which led to 29 points.
“We’ve got to do a better job taking care of the ball,” Atlanta coach Quin Snyder said. “Defensively in the third quarter (against New York) that was a problem. There were stretches of the game where we just didn’t do the things we have to do from an execution standpoint to play at the level that we need to against a really good team.”
Trae Young leads the team with 23.3 points and leads the NBA with 11.7 assists. He scored 27 against the Knicks, but 18 came in the first half.
Young had a game-high 35 points and 13 dimes in the first meeting against Detroit this season.
The Hawks have played the last three games without rookie forward Zaccharie Risacher (left adductor strain), who averages 10.5 points and 3.5 rebounds. Risacher, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 draft, will sit out at least another week, the team said Tuesday.
–Field Level Media
