Behind 27 points and nine assists by Derrick Rose, the Detroit Pistons defeated the Atlanta Hawks 136-103 Saturday night at State Farm Arena.
The game proved to be one sided as the Hawks held a three point lead early in the game but once the Pistons ran away with the lead, they never gave it back. Detroit went on to have a 36 point lead at one point in the fourth quarter.
For the Hawks, the level of fatigue could be seen around the squad, given that the team had faced the San Antonio Spurs just 24 hours earlier and had arrived in Atlanta at 3 a.m. For the Pistons, the team have had the previous two days off.
For the Hawks, John Collins had 20 points, DeAndre Hunter had 19 and Trae Young contributed with 16.
Meanwhile for the Pistons, Rose had 27 points, Svi Mykhailiuk scored 25 and Markieff Morris finished with 22 points.
“I feel like they were being cautious,” Rose said about not being a starter earlier in the season. “I keep showing them. I’m coming in, doing what I’m supposed to do, taking care of my body. I’ve been prepping for this all summer, so it’s finally just coming full circle.”
The Hawks will resume action Monday afternoon when the team will host the Toronto Raptors at 2:30 p.m.
“We knew how they were going to attack us,” Collins said “We just didn’t execute our plan well. We came out a little slow and they hit us first, and we really didn’t respond too well.”
