The Detroit Pistons look to extend their winning streak to a season-high six and put more room between themselves and the Hawks when they meet on Sunday in Atlanta.
The Pistons are sixth in the Eastern Conference and hold a four-game advantage over the Hawks entering Saturday. This will be the final of four regular-season meetings. Detroit leads the series 2-1, but Atlanta won the last meeting 132-130 in Detroit on Feb. 3.
The Pistons defeated San Antonio 125-110 on Friday to improve to 16-13 away from home.
Detroit continues to show dramatic improvement from a year ago when the team won only 14 games. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff said the success is a byproduct of the base that was built in 2023-24, but said his team remains a work in progress.
“We’re not a finished product,” Bickerstaff said. “We’ll continue to develop and get better and learn how each player’s individual strengths fit together.”
The Pistons have an emerging star in Cade Cunningham (25.4 points per game, 9.5 assists assists per game), another young standout in Jalen Duren (11 ppg, 10.3 rebounds per game) and dependable veterans Malik Beasley (16.5 ppg) and Tobias Harris (13.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg). Jaden Ivey (17.6 ppg) remains out with a lower leg injury and is unavailable for at least another month.
“This group of guys is coming together,” Bickerstaff said. “They believe in one another; they trust in one another, and they want to get better because it’s the best thing for this group.”
The Hawks are coming off a 114-108 loss to visiting Orlando on Thursday, shooting only 39 percent from the floor and blowing a 19-point lead.
Atlanta is still trying to blend in its three new pieces obtained at the trade deadline — Georges Niang, Caris LeVert and Terance Mann. All three have contributed, but there are growing pains associated with joining a new team in the middle of the season and playing alongside an imaginative playmaker like NBA assists leader Trae Young (11.4 per game).
“It’s hard when you’re learning new plays — you’ve got to know inbounding the ball out of bounds, playing a side out of bounds play,” Atlanta coach Quin Snyder said. “All of those situations can be a lot to absorb and I think all three of those guys have embraced that and are doing really well trying to get familiarity and then compete at the same time.”
A beneficiary could be first-round draft pick Zaccharie Risacher, who earned his first career double-double on Thursday and set a career high with 12 rebounds. Risacher is averaging 11.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists.
“He’s confident and aggressive in transition,” Snyder said. “He’s going to continue to get better. With a couple months left, he can keep improving. And guys like Mo (Gueye) and Dom (Barlow), who hadn’t played for us until a couple weeks ago and have given us good minutes, we’ve got to continue to work and get connected and compete.”
