In the grand scheme, the Atlanta Hawks faced a relatively modest challenge on paper entering Friday night’s game with the Detroit Pistons. The team was a small home underdog but, in theory, Atlanta had the firepower to keep things close against a Detroit team playing away from home. In the end, however, a terrible first quarter paved the way to doom for the Hawks, as the hosts fell by a final score of 124-109.
From the opening tip, things did not go well for the home team. Atlanta’s defense was comically poor in the early going and, as a result, the Pistons claimed a 23-7 lead that prompted Lloyd Pierce to take a pair of timeouts in the first five minutes.