Pistons pull away from Hawks By SEKOU SMITH The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 02/22/06 Auburn Hills, Mich. – When facing the NBA's elite this season the Hawks have taken a rather bold approach, opting to meet them at center court instead of concocting gimmicks and tricks to battle superior foes. It's worked, as the Hawks have scored wins over Detroit, San Antonio, Cleveland and Indiana (twice). For a while Tuesday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills, it looked like it might work again. But the Pistons, owners of the league's best record at home and everywhere else, wouldn't allow it as they put down the insurgent Hawks 97-87 to improve to 43-9. It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Hawks, 16-35, who came into the game on a high after beating the Lakers in Los Angeles for their first road win against a Western Conference foe in 24 tries. These Pistons, however, are a totally different monster compared to the pedestrian Lakers. "They put their foot on our necks in the third quarter and we just weren't able to recover," Hawks co-captain Al Harrington said after schooling the Pistons for 20 points and 10 rebounds. "That's the difference between a great team like that and the rest of us." Still, it wasn't until the midway through the third quarter that the Pistons were able to finally take control of the game, long after they took a 15-point lead that the Hawks would erase. Josh Smith finished with 10 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocks. The Pistons' grit, brawn and chemistry from end line to end line were just too much for the Hawks to overcome. They led by as many as 19 points late and cruised to the finish line. Rip Hamilton finished with 24 points, Rasheed Wallace had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Ben Wallace added 17 rebounds and six blocks. "That third quarter was a disaster for us," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "And I say that knowing that our bench played great. But we're still our own worst enemy in terms of finishing games." A 45-43 Pistons lead at halftime was a bit misleading, considering the Hawks outplayed the league leaders for the last 12 minutes before halftime. And that was with just one first half point from leading scorer Joe Johnson, who finished with a season-low three points on 1-for-9 shooting from the floor. Harrington scored eight of his 16 first-half points in the quarter as the Hawks turned the Pistons' trademarks, pressure defense and an in your face approach on offense, back on them. With Josh Smith doing his best Ben Wallace impersonation (Smith had four blocks to Wallace's three before halftime) and Josh Childress, Salim Stoudamire and Marvin Williams all running well off the bench – they shot 11-for-18 from the floor and scored 23 points – the Hawks took the lead eight different times in the quarter. But in the final 30 seconds the Pistons regained their composure and the lead, on dunk by Tayshaun Prince and a jumper at the halftime buzzer from Chauncey Billups. "That was the way it went the entire night," said Childress, who finished with 18 points and six rebounds off the bench, joining Stoudamire (15) and Williams (13) in double figures. "We'd play 20 seconds of solid defense and then they'd knock a shot down or get the rebound and give themselves a second chance. "That's the problem with a team like that. You can't make any mistakes because they feed off of that." 原文转载 http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/hawks/stories/0222hawks.html --

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