Pistons bench blitzes Hawks lead by Svi’s career night

The Detroit Pistons shot 59% or better in the second straight game — a feat they only accomplished once before in the title year of 1989. The Pistons were able to dominate the Atlanta Hawks 136-103 after dominating the Boston Celtics a game before. Unlike the game against the Celtics, however, Detroit was led by a nearly unstoppable bench.

The Pistons had 76 points off their bench led by Svi Mykhailiuk with a career-high 24 points and continuing a torrid stretch from deep. Mykhailiuk hit five 3s and 9-of-11 from the floor. Svi has been a sniper from 3 all season but over his last 10 games he’s hitting a ridiculous 47.1% from 3 on seven attempts per game.

Joining in on the fun was Markieff Morris, who also played his best game of the season. Morris was an extremely rough watch early in the season but he has looked more relaxed and under control for the past few weeks. Morris had 22 points and shot a good ball from deep and user crafty post-up moves to get clean looks all night. He is still allergic to rebounding (one board in over 20 minutes) but he has really helped smooth out the offense.

Derrick Rose was, one again, brilliant in the first and third quarters, and helped set the tone for Detroit’s up-tempo attack and ball movement. He was unstoppable near the rim and had 27 points on the night. Even more encouraging was he put more emphasis on being a distributor and finding quality looks for teammates.

He found Andre Drummond for some easy looks as a roll man including a monster off the backboard pass that Dre was able to flush down. Drummond finished with 16 points and 17 rebounds, passing Bob Lanier for second all time in Pistons history. He trails only Bill Laimbeer for most rebounds in franchise history.

Other highlights included the Atlanta Hawks showing themselves that they have absolutely zero interior defense as the Pistons, behind Rose’s drives, Drummond’s rolls and complementary players’ cuts, got to the rim with ease all night. Langston Galloway was also able to find his shot again, hitting 5-of-8 including a pair of 3-pointers. That’s good news for anyone hoping Galloway can find a new home on a contender before the trade deadline.

Christian Wood, who had been struggling the past few weeks, also showed some signs of life. He had 10 points and seven rebounds in just 16 minutes and had three ridiculous blocks and some solid finishes at the rim with contact.

The Hawks were led by big man John Collins with 20 points and De’Andre Hunter with 19 points. Trae Young had 16 points but was frustrated all night thanks to some quality defense from Bruce Brown and Tim Frazier.

For the first time since entering the starting lineup, Sekou Doumbouya failed to make an impact. His shot was off all night, scoring just four points on 1-of-8 shooting. The good news, if you can call it that, is he committed only one foul in his 27 minutes of playing time.