Hawks use proficient shooting to beat Pistons

Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Johnson finished with 26 points, as the Atlanta Hawks used an efficient offensive performance to take a 112-99 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

Josh Smith added 18 points and a career-high 11 assists for the Hawks, who shot a season-high 63 percent and made 7-of-14 from three-point range. Jamal Crawford made all three of his long-distance attempts on his way to 17 points, which helped Atlanta take its second consecutive win.

Jason Maxiell had 19 points and 12 boards for the Pistons, who were coming off Friday's victory over Washington. Will Bynum had a career-best 20 assists in that win, and Saturday, ended with 16 points and seven assists.

Richard Hamilton scored 18 points, but Detroit had just 12 points in the first quarter and never caught up.

"I think that's what hurt us," Pistons head coach John Kuester said. "I thought we were trying, but we were not taking care of the basketball, and they were making us pay on that in the first half."

The Pistons shot just 5-of-20 in the opening frame, allowing the Hawks to open up a huge lead. Atlanta used a 13-0 run to go ahead 28-7, and held a 30-12 advantage moving to the second.

The 12 points were the fewest the Hawks have allowed in the opening quarter this season.

"Any time we can come out of the gate like that, it gives us confidence throughout the game," Johnson said. "That makes us a tough team to beat. When you've got to play catch-up on the road like that, it's always tough."

Atlanta continued to pour on the points, making 15-of-18 field goal attempts in the second quarter. Jeff Teague had the last of those, a jumper with 0.4 seconds left to put the Hawks up 69-41 at the break.

However, the Pistons trimmed their deficit in the third quarter, using an 11-2 run to get within 78-64 with five minutes left.

They trailed 92-77 at the end of the frame, and got within single digits in the middle of the fourth, as consecutive baskets from Kwame Brown and Ben Gordon cut Atlanta's lead to 96-87.

But Johnson countered with a jumper, and after a few failed possessions, a Smith dunk had the Hawks ahead by 13 with 5:20 left. Almost two minutes later, Johnson drained a three before sinking a layup that put Atlanta up 107-91, and the Hawks led by double digits the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Atlanta improved to 26-7 at home this season, while Detroit fell to 7-25 on the road...The Pistons shot 49.3 percent...Gordon had 12 points for Detroit...Al Horford had 15 points for Atlanta, while Marvin Williams added 12.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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