Detroit — It’s been a while since the Pistons built a lead of 20-plus points in the third quarter and they were able to cruise through the fourth quarter.
For a while, that looked to be how the second half was going to go against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Pistons used a 25-4 run to open the third quarter and they built a 29-point lead, looking like they were going to run away from the Hawks, who were on the second night of a back-to-back.
Things weren’t quite that easy, and the Pistons had to sweat a little bit at the end of the third quarter and start of the final period, but they were able to make a strong close-out for a 122-101 victory on Wednesday night at Little Caesars Arena.
Jerami Grant led the way with 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists, Cade Cunningham added 17 points, six rebounds and eight assists and Kelly Olynyk 16 points and four rebounds for the Pistons (20-53), who had lost six of their previous seven games.
It was the Pistons’ largest margin of victory this season, and they had their largest lead (29 points) of the season.
BOX SCORE: Pistons 122, Hawks 101
“We started off a little slow in the last game and it came back to haunt us at the end of the game,” said Marvin Bagley III, who had 13 points and seven rebounds. “Today, we came out with a lot of energy.”
After a 25-4 run to start the third quarter — including 11 points by Cory Joseph — the Pistons were ahead, 84-55, and looked to be on their way. The Hawks (36-37) answered with an 11-2 run, with a pair of 3-pointers by Bogdan Bogdanovic (13 points) and another by Delon Wright.
Wright later had another 3-pointer and a putback by Onyeka Okongwu to get within 91-83, and after a hook by Olynyk, the Hawks finished the quarter with a jumper by Trae Young (21 points and nine assists) and another 3-pointer by Bogdanovic, pulling the Hawks within 93-78 entering the fourth quarter.
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The Pistons got back on track in the fourth quarter with a solid start. Olynyk made two free throws and Cunningham followed with a three-point play, igniting an 8-2 run that pushed the lead back to 21 at the 8:12 mark.
Young added another 3-pointer but the Pistons put it away with a basket by Olynyk, a reverse alley-oop from Cunningham to Bagley and a lay-in by Killian Hayes (13 points, eight rebounds and five assists), who tied his season high in scoring.
From there, the Pistons held the lead above 20 points and cruised the rest of the way.
The second unit was a big difference for the Pistons, with big games from Olynyk, Hayes and Bagley, but also a solid performance on both ends of the court from Rodney McGruder, who drew praise from coach Dwane Casey.
“I got on the second unit the other night. I jumped them pretty hard, and I praised them at halftime (tonight) because they came in and changed the game and increased the lead,” Casey said.
“That’s their job; they’ve got to come in and either hold water or increase the lead and not drop down with energy or effort or execution, and they executed tonight on both ends of the floor, which was great to see.
“It started with Marvin and Kelly and Rodney did an excellent job of guarding Trae Young and Bogdanovic, so the second unit, kudos to them too.”
Cunningham was solid all around, finishing the game with a plus-43 rating, the highest plus/minus by any Pistons player since April 17, 2012, when Rodney Stuckey was a plus-46.
Rod.Beard@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @detnewsRodBeard
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