With Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose missing the middle game a stretch of three games in four nights for the Pistons, it was a good opportunity for coach Dwane Casey to work on some different lineup variations. That included giving the young players an extended look to see how they’d fare with extended minutes.
It also meant getting to see more from rookies Killian Hayes, Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart.
The shorthanded Pistons stayed close in the first half, but couldn’t stop the Atlanta Hawks, who took a 128-120 victory on Monday night at State Farm Arena.