Hawks use late 3s to stun Pistons in OT
January 28, 2012
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP)—Joe Johnson scored 28 of his 30 points afterhalftime, including a tying 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left in regulation, andthe Atlanta Hawks stunned the Detroit Pistons 107-101 in overtime Friday night.
Atlanta Hawks ' Tracy McGr… AP – Jan 27, 9:02 pm EST Atlanta Hawks ' Ivan Johns… AP – Jan 27, 9:02 pm EST
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Atlanta forced overtime with a pair of late 3-pointers. Marvin Williams madeone with 33.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to three, thenJohnson stole a pass inside and brought the ball up the court. Johnson lookedlike as if might have hurt himself, but he kept the ball and sank a tough3-pointer over Rodney Stuckey to tie it.
The Hawks started the extra session with a 12-2 run, including 3-pointers byWilliams and Josh Smith.
Greg Monroe scored 22 points for the Pistons and Brandon Knight added 20.
Johnson was 1 of 9 from the field in the first half, but he recovered in abig way, surpassing 14,000 points for his career and continuing a strong stretchfor him since the Hawks lost Al Horford earlier this month to a torn pectoralmuscle.
The Hawks are now 10-1 when Johnson scores at least 20 points.
Atlanta rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to tie it in the fourthquarter, but Jason Maxiell’s three-point play after an offensive rebound put thePistons ahead 73-70 and started what looked like a decisive 8-0 run.
But the Pistons couldn’t hold on, starting a stretch of seven games in ninedays on a sour note. Detroit had a chance to win it even after Johnson’s big3-pointer in the final seconds of the fourth, but Knight’s last-second shotdidn’t come close.
Maxiell led all scorers with 12 points in the first half. Detroit led 46-35after Monroe’s three-point play with 0.5 seconds left in the second quarter.Neither team was shooting all that well, but the Hawks turned the ball over 11times in the half.
Detroit was playing without Tayshaun Prince (family reason) and Ben Gordon(sore shoulder).
Atlanta guard Jeff Teague left in the second half with a left ankle injury.
Williams finished with 22 points and eight rebounds for the Hawks, and Smithhad 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
NOTES: Austin Daye, who scored a career-high 28 points for the Pistons in aloss to Miami on Wednesday night, finished with 12 on Friday. His baseline shotwith 39.9 seconds left gave Detroit an 87-81 lead, but the Hawks scored the lastsix points of regulation … Johnson has 14,010 points.
