ATLANTA — Rodney Stuckey scored 29 points, Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond each had a double-double and
the Detroit Pistons snapped a 10-game skid in Atlanta with a 102-95 victory over the Hawks on Tuesday
night.
Atlanta has five games left in the regular season and a 1 1/2-game advantage over New York for the eighth
and final Eastern Conference playoff spot.
Paul Millsap had 24 points and 12 rebounds for Atlanta, which had won three of four.
Monroe finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds and Drummond had 19 points and 17 rebounds for the
Pistons, who were eliminated from playoff contention when the Hawks won Sunday at Indiana.
Detroit has won two straight after dropping five of six.
Atlanta trailed by three when Drummond blocked Millsap’s jumper in the lane and tipped in Kyle Singler’s
missed fast-break layup to put the Pistons up 96-91 with 1:36 remaining.
The Pistons were up by 13 twice in the second, the latter coming on Peyton Siva’s 3-pointer at the 8:47
mark, but Atlanta cut the lead to four on Kyle Korver’s 3 in the final minute.
Detroit played without leading scorer Josh Smith, who was sidelined by patella tendinitis in his left
knee. Stuckey replaced the former Atlanta star in the starting lineup and had 15 points in the first
half.
Jeff Teague finished with 15 points and nine assists for the Hawks.
Korver overcame a turnover midway through the third by hitting a 3 on Atlanta’s ensuing possession to
force a 67-all tie.
The Hawks took their first lead of the game on their next possession as DeMarre Carroll took on outlet
pass from Teague and hit a fast-break layup at the 6:24 mark.
But after three more lead changes, Detroit began the fourth ahead 81-78 and never trailed again.
Atlanta gets another chance to pad its lead over New York on Wednesday when Boston visits Philips Arena.
The Knicks’ next game is Friday at Toronto.
NOTES: The game was played Tuesday after getting rescheduled from Jan. 29 because of a snowstorm. …
Smith missed his first game since signing a four-year, $54 million contract as a free agent. He has
started 76 of 77 games. … Detroit won in Atlanta for the first time since Feb. 12, 2008. … The Hawks
missed 26 of 35 attempts beyond the arc. … Stuckey, who made his second start in 70 games, gave the
Pistons their first double-digit lead by hitting a 3 to make it 40-29 with 10:20 left in the second. …
Hawks reserve G Lou Williams was in uniform, but he sat out for a second straight with a sore left
hamstring. … The Hawks dropped to 22-16 at home. … Detroit improved to 13-27 on the road. … John
Loyer improved to 8-20 as Detroit’s interim coach.