ATLANTA _ Fast start.
Check.
Three-point shooting.
Check.
The Detroit Pistons, boosted by six 3-pointers, raced to a 40-20 first quarter lead on the way to a 124-109 dusting of the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.
Andre Drummond finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots, and the Pistons (6-5) were 20-for-47 from 3-point range as they completed a perfect two-game trip.
Langston Galloway (5-for-9), Stanley Johnson (4-for-9), Glenn Robinson III (2-for-4) and Reggie Bullock (3-for-6) shot a combined 50 percent from 3-point range, by far the best performance from the collection of swingmen this season.
Seven Pistons scored in double figures in shooting 42.6 percent from 3-point range.
Johnson scored a season-high 22 points and Galloway finished with 16.
Jeremy Lin had 19 points, and rookie point guard Trae Young had 16 points for the Hawks (3-9).
The Pistons entered as one of the worst first-quarter teams in the league, having finished the first 12 minutes in the lead only once.
But that wasn't a problem at State Farm Arena.
Bullock scored seven quick points as the Pistons forced the first timeout at the 8:45 mark with a 14-5 lead.
A Galloway triple pushed the lead to 37-14 and the rout was on.
The 3-point barrage was a welcome sight.
Teams have started aggressively double-teaming Blake Griffin, the team's leading scorer. He had a quiet night with six points, nine rebounds and nine assists in 25 minutes. He didn't play in the fourth quarter.
Until this game, Detroit's 3-point shooters weren't taking advantage of the space afforded by Griffin's stellar play inside.
The Pistons were 29th in 3-point shooting at 33 percent after 10 games.
Until the shots start falling, Griffin is going to attract a crowd, and proper spacing is important.
Coach Dwane Casey stressed the importance of limiting turnovers. The Pistons were 25th with 15.6 per game going into Friday.
They finished Friday with 10 _ an acceptable number.
"A lot of it is shooting ourselves in the foot, trying to overdo things, playing in a crowd, driving in a crowd," Casey said before the game. "Just not making good decisions with the ball.
"We need the attempts. In today's NBA you need as many 3-point attempts or shots at the rim as you can get so if we turn it over 20 times, 20 is way too many."
