Pistons 85, Hawks 84
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Austin Daye scored a season-high 20 points and Greg Monroe had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead the Detroit Pistons to their fourth consecutive victory 85-84 over the Atlanta Hawks at The Palace on Friday.
Jason Maxiell contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds for Detroit, which led by double digits most of the way and barely held off the Hawks' fourth-quarter rally. Rodney Stuckey, who missed the previous three games with a left ankle sprain, added 10 points, as the Pistons (13-22) won for the sixth time in seven games. They can sweep their five-game homestand with a victory over Charlotte Sunday.
Josh Smith topped Atlanta with 20 points, Al Horford had 18 points and 15 rebounds and Lou Williams chipped in 17 points. The Hawks (20-11) had won five of their last six, including a 126-119 double overtime victory over the Pistons in Atlanta on Dec. 26.
Monroe had eight third-quarter points as the Pistons carried a 74-62 lead into the fourth quarter. Williams kept the Hawks from losing contact with nine points, all on 3-pointers.
Will Bynum's layup gave the Pistons a seemingly comfortable 83-66 advantage with seven minutes left. Atlanta then came roaring back, reeling off 16 unanswered points. Kyle Korver and Williams made back-to-back 3-pointer to make it 83-82 with 3:13 left.
Stuckey's layup with 2:15 remaining finally broke Detroit's scoring drought. The Hawks didn't score again until Horford hit an open perimeter shot with five seconds left that was originally ruled a 3-pointer but changed to two points upon an officials' review.
Tayshaun Prince then threw away the inbounds pass to Hawks guard Jeff Teague with the Pistons out of timeouts. After an Atlanta timeout, Williams' corner jumper clanged off the side of the backboard.
Daye, whose previous season high was 13 points, had 16 by halftime as the Pistons took a 51-36 lead. He made all but one of his eight field-goal attempts, including a pair of 3-pointers, while Detroit's defense limited the Hawks to 33.3 percent shooting.
Korver fired in the 1,200th 3-pointer of his career early in the third after missing his first five attempts.
NOTES: Hawks guards Devin Harris (sore left foot) and Anthony Morrow (right hip strain) and center Johan Petro (flu) did not make the trip. ... Atlanta has a 9-5 road record, best among Eastern Conference teams. ... Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva, who was ejected and then fined $25,000 by the league for a flagrant foul against Sacramento's Isaiah Thomas on Tuesday, had made at least three 3-pointers in five straight games. ... Atlanta was averaging 27.7 assists over the last six games, lifting it to second in the NBA with a 23.4 average per game. ... The Hawks were 5-1 with Williams in the starting lineup. ... Detroit was 1-13 in games it allowed 100 points or more. ... Detroit entered the game ninth in defensive field-goal percentage at 44.0 percent. Opponents shot 46.2 percent against the Pistons last season. ... The Pistons' bench has outscored the opposition's reserves by an average of 5.7 points per game. "Given the way their team has played the last seven or eight games, the bench is a huge part of why they've had success," Atlanta coach Larry Drew said.
