Josh Smith's chip on his shoulder helped the Atlanta Hawks to a much-needed rare win against the Detroit Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Smith had 27 points and 14 boards and Mike Bibby added 17 points, seven assists and six rebounds to lead the Hawks to a 94-79 win over the Pistons on Monday night in suburban Detroit.
Marvin Williams had 15 points and eight rebounds off of the bench for Atlanta, which erased a 15-point second quarter deficit en route to notching just their second win in their last 11 games on the Pistons' home court.
"It feels good," Smith told the team's TV broadcast afterward. "It feels even better because we came into this building 0-5. We lost our last five games here."
The win couldn't have come at a better time for Atlanta, which dropped its last two games at the Highlight Factory in rather embarrassing fashion. The Hawks blew a 22 point lead in a 88-86 setback against the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday on top of a 117-83 setback to the Philadelphia 76ers last Tuesday.
Luckily for Atlanta, they have a forward who wants to show the rest of the league that he deserves to be on the All-Star team that is backing up his words with his game.
"I'm making my point to prove my point to every Eastern Conference coach that I deserve to be in the All-Star Game," a candid Smith admitted.
The Hawks could also thank a reemergence of Bibby for the win in this one.
Detroit couldn't miss from behind the 3-point line early on in this one, connecting on six straight to start the game en route to building a a 41-26 lead with 7:28 remaining in the second with a reverse layup by Charlie Villanueva.
But Bibby and the rest of the Hawks found their three-point stroke as Atlanta chipped away at the lead, eventually taking a 53-51 edge on a bucket by Smith to end the half. Bibby, Atlanta's starting point guard, had 10 of his 17 points in the comeback.
Atlanta got some separation with an 8-0 run to start the third quarter and never looked back.
"I thought we did a great job," Hawks coach Larry Drew told reporters after the game. "We went through a bad stretch in the second quarter, but we regained our composure. That's the sign of a good team, especially on the road.
"(In the) second half, we defensively turned it up. ... It's a good win for us. It's a total team effort. We've been a successful road team and we need to continue."
Tracy McGrady had 14 points and Villaneuva added 13 off the bench for the Pistons, who have dropped four straight on their home court.