Smith Scores 27, Hawks Rally Past Pistons
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Josh Smith had 27 points and 14 rebounds and the Atlanta Hawks rallied for a 94-79 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Monday night.
Atlanta trailed by as many as 15 points in the second quarter but held the Pistons to 28 percent shooting in the second half as they pulled away to win.
Mike Bibby added 17 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Hawks, while Marvin Williams had 15 points.
Detroit had five players score in double figures, but Tracy McGrady led the Pistons with just 14. Detroit scored only 28 points in the second half as it lost for the fourth time in five games.
The Pistons made their first six 3-point attempts before Charlie Villanueva missed early in the second quarter, and didn't commit their first turnover until moments later.
Those two factors helped Detroit build a 41-26 lead early in the second quarter, but Atlanta went on a 27-10 run to take a 53-51 halftime lead.
Bibby and Joe Johnson started the second half with 3-pointers, increasing the lead to eight points. Detroit went almost six minutes without scoring its first points of the quarter, and were down 74-68 going into the fourth.
Detroit's reserves had nearly pulled off a come-from-behind win Sunday against Portland, but struggled in the same role a day later. The Hawks led by 15 points early in the fourth, and cruised to the win.
Notes
Pistons G Richard Hamilton, who has only played once since Jan. 10, sat out with a groin injury on his 33rd birthday.
Detroit lost both games of a rare home back-to-back.
Atlanta won for the eighth time in its last 10 road games.
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