The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dedmon motivates Atlanta
Double-double and his hustle power the Hawks to tough victory over Detroit.
Ten observations from the Hawks’ 118-115 victory Sunday:
1. Dewayne Dedmon (career high-tying 20 points to go with 13 rebounds) gave Atlanta the
fourth-quarter scoring punch it needed. When Detroit’s Andre Drummond blocked a shot on a drive, Dedmon collected the loose ball and scored as Ish Smith grabbed him. Dedmon made the free throw to put the Hawks ahead 109-107 and, after Drummond missed a shot in the lane, Dedmon made a corner 3-pointer for a 112-107 Hawks advantage. The Hawks held on from there, with Dennis Schroder making six free
throws in the final 20 seconds.
2. Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer started Dedmon at center instead of Miles Plumlee. Budenholzer said he had been starting Plumlee because of his bulk, which would seem to come in handy against Drummond, but
Plumlee did not play Sunday. Budenholzer also said before this game he wanted shooting bigs on the floor to pull Drummond and Blake Griffin away from the paint — thus Dedmon and Ersan Ilyasova as the starting frontcourt.
3. That plan didn’t material- ize because there was no need for Dedmon to step outside and shoot; he was doing damage as a roll man. But when it was time to make a big jump shot, Dedmon delivered. Dedmon was dis
ruptive as a help defender too (three steals).
4. The Hawks led by a point after three quarters. The Pistons quickly opened a five-point lead in the fourth quarter amid a flurry of poor offensive posses
sions for the Hawks, who couldn’t handle Drummond during that stretch. Drummond (25 points on 14 shots, 9 for 13 on free throws,
15 rebounds) also was a deter- rent at the rim.
5. It appeared Schroder was very eager to get the ball early so he could go at Smith (too slow to stay in front of him) and past Drummond (too lumbering to block Schroder when he gets quick extensions at the basket). Schroder kind of receded into the background after that early spurt until coming alive in the final period.
6. Budenholzer in pregame said rebounding was the other part of the equation against Detroit’s bigs: “Drummond is such a force on both the offensive and defensive boards. If you can limit those it’s such a huge step against this team.” Drummond had five offensive boards and Griffin three as the Pistons scored 17 second-chance points on 12 offensive rebounds. Dedmon and Ilyasova did their part with 16 defensive boards between them; the rest of the Hawks totalled just 14.
7. Griffin had an inefficient scoring game with 23 points on 21shots. The Hawks were happy to watch him settle for 3-pointers (1 for 8 before making his final two, including a meaningless bank shot at the buzzer). After half- time Griffin (six assists) did make more of an effort to draw attention in the paint and find open teammates.
8. Taurean Prince missed all five of his 3-point attempts after also missing all nine against the Cavs on Friday. Prince also had two bad turnovers on consecutive possessions early in the fourth quarter. At that point Buden- holzer summoned Prince to the bench and left him there.
9. Pistons guard Reggie Bullock, a threat as a volume 3-point shooter, got loose to make all four of his shots in the second quarter, includ- ing two 3-pointers. Those 10 consecutive points staked the Pistons to a 56-55 halftime lead.
10. John Collins ( nine points on seven shots, three rebounds in 18 minutes) got into foul trouble dealing with Drummond. He was called for his fourth personal more than two minutes before halftime, picked up his fifth at 2:06 of the third quarter and fouled out with 3:25 to play.