The Detroit Pistons were cruising to their second blowout victory in three games. They led the Atlanta Hawks by 17 points midway through the fourth quarter, after leading by double digits for most of the second half.
Then, the Pistons collapsed. The Hawks forced overtime by outscoring Detroit 24-7, tying the game at 106 after Trae Young found a cutting Clint Capela for an open dunk.
The momentum didn't come back to the Pistons in overtime, as the Hawks scored 17 more points in the extra period, completing the comeback win, 123-115.
Jerami Grant topped 20 points for the 13th consecutive game, finishing with a career-high 32 points to go with six rebounds and five assists. He scored all nine of Detroit's points in overtime. Young scored 38 points and had 10 assists, Capela had 27 points, 26 rebounds and five blocks and John Collins finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds. Atlanta out-rebounded the Pistons 63-42.
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It hasn't been an ideal start to the season for Griffin, who entering Wednesday's game averaging 12.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists while shooting 38.3% overall. He was coming off one of his worst performances, scoring a season-low five points in 35 minutes Monday in Miami.
He looked more like his old self on Wednesday, tallying 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting and adding seven rebounds and three assists. His best bucket of the night came with 1:04 left in regulation, when he hit a back-scooping layup off of the high glass and was fouled. He hit the free throw to give the Pistons a 106-101 lead.
It has been a slow return to form for Griffin after soreness in his left knee, followed by surgery, prematurely ended his season in December 2019. Head coach Dwane Casey has preached patience until Griffin rediscovers his form. He looked more comfortable against the Hawks, making two of four 3-point attempts, getting a post hook to fall and baiting Collins into fouling him as he shot a deep 2.
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Two games after the best game of Isaiah Stewart's rookie season — 10 points and 11 rebounds 19 minutes off of the bench Saturday night in Miami — he struggled with foul trouble, as he has for much of the year.
He sat for much of the second and fourth quarters — he picked up three fouls in his first eight minutes of the game — before fouling out late in the period.Stewart is averaging eight fouls per 100 possessions, fifth-highest in the NBA among players who have played at least 10 games this season.
Stewart's benching in the second cleared the way for Jahlil Okafor to make his first appearance in two games. Stewart was better when he returned in the third quarter, making some nice defensive plays and finding Grant in the paint for a layup for Detroit’s last bucket of the quarter.
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Wayne Ellington had one of the best games of his career on Monday, hitting seven 3-pointers and finishing the night with 24 points. He picked up where he left off on Wednesday, hitting four 3-pointers en-route to a 16-point performance. He made three of his 3s in the first five minutes of the third quarter, helping the Pistons build a double-digit lead.
Ellington entered Wednesday shooting 46.5% on 3-pointers overall, and a red-hot 53.3% from 3 in five games as a starter. Dwane Casey praised his consistency before the game, and he now leads the team in 3-point shooting after a hot week.
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It’s been an uneven season for Svi Mykhailiuk, who has appeared in every game but has seen his minutes and place in the rotation see-saw as he continues working through an extended shooting slump.
He had his best game of the year last Wednesday against the Bucks, scoring a season-high 18 points in 18 minutes and making six of his nine shot attempts. He nearly didn’t play at all in Detroit’s following game against the Heat on Saturday, sitting on the bench until the end of the game, with the Pistons leading by a wide margin.
Mykhailiuk didn’t enter Wednesday's game against the Hawks until the 4:40 mark of the third quarter. He scored six points in 11 minutes, with both buckets being deep 3-pointers. It was a good sign for the third-year sharpshooting guard, who entered the game making just 30.9% of his 3-pointers.
