Joe Johnson is nailing his shots. Zaza Pachulia is on fire off of the bench. The Atlanta Hawks lead the Detroit Pistons at the break.
Johnson has 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting and Pachulia added 11 in nine minutes to lead the Hawks to a 55-50 edge at the half.
Chris Wilcox posted 10 and Tayshaun Prince netted eight for the Pistons, who are shooting 55-percent (25-for-40) from the field.
For the most part, the Hawks are doing exactly what they have to do to win basketball games. They seem under control. They have energy and they aren't hocking up too many ill advised jumpers. (At least until the final minutes of the frame, where they started to throw up some pretty bad shots).
Atlanta has also gotten to the line, with Pachulia leading the way. The Atlanta reserve from the Republic of Georgia is 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the frame.
The Hawks soared to 10 point leads twice in the frame, but the pesky Pistons won't quite go away.
Despite Atlanta's statistical edges, one has a feeling that the Pistons are a few possessions away from making this a ballgame. The Hawks can ill afford to get into those same bad habits that have resulted in terrible double-digit losses to teams like the Miami Heat and the Denver Nuggets. Don't just settle for jumpers, guys.