This is their LAST CHANCE...

One last ride. The battle is set. Hawks versus Pistons. Place your bets. No second chances. No rewinds. Every play is a statement. Every move's a sign. Leave it on the floor. Cross that line. For the regular season, this is the very last time. Hey guys, welcome back to Hawks Digest. Happy to see your faces again. I'm Chris Tiltmore. Go on, take off those shoes and leave on those socks because we're gonna dive into the Hawks versus the Detroit Pistons. Those motorheads coming on down to State Farm Arena, trying to wreck some things, but we have something to say. You know, the South always got something to say. But before I even say that and get into that, I definitely gotta let you guys know that we appreciate you guys for helping us get over 1,000 subs. We definitely couldn't have done it without you guys moving closer to 1,100 and beyond. And so thank you guys for making Hawks Digest one of your first listens when you want that Hawks content when you just gotta have it, you know? And if you're still in that 80 percentile who are skeptical about the Atlanta Hawks Digest, I encourage you to grab you an Atlanta Hawks fan and say, hey, what do you think about that Hawks Digest channel? And I'm pretty sure they will lead you right to the promised land, which is here at Atlanta Hawks Digest. Come on, be a part of the Atlanta Hawks Digest. Be a part of our family and our movement. We would love to have you. But again, we gotta get into this preview. Very important game here, guys. Shouldn't be slept on at all. Coming into this game, the Atlanta Hawks are currently third in the Southeast Division, and they're also, unfortunately, the ninth seed right now in the Eastern Conference Finals. I mean, excuse me, in the Eastern Conference. Hoo, I hope we get to the Eastern Conference Finals. But the Atlanta Hawks coming into this game, again, the money line. Let's talk about the money line for those who like to bet, who like to gamble. You know what I'm saying? Make a little money, leave a little on the dresser. You know what I'm saying? I got some numbers for you guys. Now, if you're going into betting odds, the money line right now is minus 145 for the Pistons and plus 120 for our Atlanta Hawks. Point spread is negative 3.5 for the Pistons plus 3.5 for our Atlanta Hawks. The over-under is 237.5, so that's the only thing that's really in the Hawks' favor right now. Other than that, right now, people are taking the bets on the Detroit Pistons for the money line and the point spread. Quite unfortunately, hope you guys lose all your money. But, hey man, I'm just saying, I'm a Hawks fan at the end of the day. But also, the Atlanta Hawks have an opportunity, a golden opportunity, if you will, to tie up this series versus the Detroit Pistons. Back on November the 8th, remember, we were down by a big margin, but we marched back down against the Detroit Pistons, but we lost by one, 121 to 122. Second time, 114 to 104 as they came down to Atlanta. Back on January, we still had Jalen Johnson, but unfortunately, Zachary Richesha didn't play that game. So, we were still hobbled, just like how we are now. Still missing a couple of guys. Still missing Veet Karechi, and I'll get to the injuries here in a second. But also, we was finally able to get off our seven game losing streak. Seven game losing streak against the Detroit Pistons, off of that Trey Young game winner, ice cold, stepping over the competition, stepping over Malik Beasley for the game. And we definitely needed it. It was 132 to 130. And now, this is the last ride for the regular season, unless we see them in the postseason. We need this victory, guys. Again, the Hawks are 26 and 30, and the Detroit Pistons are 30 and 26. You win this game, you go to 27 and 30, and of course, there'll be 30 and 27. But more importantly, you're clawing your way back into the standings. You're clawing your way up to hopefully the sixth seed, because hey, anything can still happen. We still have a lot of games left. 26 to be exact, as I'm recording this video. But we still have an opportunity right in front of us. We don't have to do anything crazy. We just have to make sure we game plan correctly. Last time we played these Pistons, it seemed like the Hawks were able to do a lot of backdoor cuts and catch the Pistons sleeping. Now, in the second half of that game against the Pistons last time, they started to get more physical, especially with Cade Cuttingham being a bigger guard and kicking out to the shooters. We gotta be prepared for stuff like that, okay? He's gonna continue to try to get in the lane, Cade Cuttingham, and we're gonna have a guy named Dyson Danes that's gonna have to try to do his best to defend him. Now, coming into this, I want to say about the team rankings. Let's talk about points per game for a second. Points per game, the Atlanta Hawks are 117. Excuse me, tripping. They're sixth, but they average 117 points per game. 114 for these Pistons, and that brings them 11th in the league. So, still top 15, I guess. Assists per game, 15th are the Pistons with 26.1, and of course, the Atlanta Hawks are a top team in assists. They're second with 29.3, mostly led by, of course, Ice Trey Young. Rebounds, our rebounds did take a dip a little bit. Not too crazy, but it's still a dip. They are ninth, our Atlanta Hawks are, in the standings on the rebounds, 45.1%. Also, the Detroit Pistons are right ahead of us at seven, at 45.4%, which is good enough for seventh in the NBA. Turnovers, the Hawks are 26th with 15 turnovers per game. The Pistons are 23rd with 14.6 per game. So, this right here is gonna be a battle of not turning the ball over, and also getting into the pace and the swing of things, I believe. Now, field goal percentage. Our field goal percentage is 46.2, which is good enough for 16th in the league, while the Pistons are 13th in the league at 47. As you see, these numbers are really close outside of the, let's say, points per game and assists, as far as the rankings, but especially the assists. Now, assists versus turnover ratio. The Hawks are 12th because they average two, and these Pistons are 19th because they average 1.8. So, block shots per game. The Atlanta Hawks are 10th with 5.2. Once again, here goes those Pistons at 12th with 5. Right there at us. Free throw percentage. Now, the Hawks' free throw percentage is definitely taking a dip. 23rd in the league with 77%. 15th in the league for the Pistons at 78.5%. The Atlanta Hawks have not done themselves any favors. I can just think of two games that we just recently had. We had over 20 missed free throws. You're not gonna beat anybody like that, and we also have to be better around the rim this game. So, I'm really hoping in practice with that extra day off, the Hawks took some emphasis on free throws and inside around the paint. You know, layups, layup drills, and maybe just not clear path layups. Let's say, even though it was a few layups that were clear path that were missed by them, let's say like they have the little stick and everything like they're trying to prevent the player from making the basket. Let's try to get a little bit more difficult on that. Now, of course, these guys are professionals. They do this stuff like this all the time. I'm just, you know, giving suggestions on possible something to emphasize because free throws and missing around the rim lately have definitely been a thorn in the Hawks' side, and I know that Hawks fans would love to see the Hawks bounce back out of this. Now, three point percentage. The three point percentage has gone up some because remember in our seven game losing streak, we was averaging 28% from three. Right now, we're at 34.8, which is good enough for 22nd in the league. The Pistons are 14th, though, in that regard because they are averaging 36 on the percentage, 36%. So 14th in the league. Steals per game. We're looking at 20th in the league for the Pistons at 7.8. Y'all know we a top team in steals, right? Of course you do. Second in the league, 10 steals per game. Of course, credit that mostly to the Great Barrier Thief, Dyson Lamar Daniels. Yes, I just gave him a middle name. But at the end of the day, guys, I wanna talk about something else. I just gave you those numbers. Let's talk about the last 10 games, shall we? Last 10 games, the season averages for these guys, talk about the Detroit Pistons, have been different. Season average, 113.8. Last 10 games, they've been averaging 123 points. Staying right at their season average as far as points allowed at 113. The rebounds have gone up just a tick. Also, three points made has actually gone down. It was at 13 as the average. Last 10 games, it's been at 12. So you're shooting one less three, okay. But the attempts are still 13.7 and 13.8 in the last 10 games for the Pistons. The Atlanta Hawks, we average 117 points per game for the 2024-25 season. But the last 10 games, we've averaged 120 points allowed, 119 for the season. Unfortunately, last 10 games, it's gone up just a tick at 121.5. The rebounds have dipped just a little bit from 45 to 43. Also, the three points made, they've gone up in percentages. They're still right there close at 13 for the season, 13.8 for the last 10 games. Three pointers allowed. We average 14 threes allowed. But the last 10 games, 11. So it has gone down just a bit. The Atlanta Hawks are making some strides. At the end of the day, we gotta make sure we're executing in this game. We have to take care of home court because we have home court advantage for the most part for the remaining of the year. Still have 11 road games, but we're getting these home games. As long as fans are coming down there doing their job, the Atlanta Hawks gotta do theirs as well. Of course, some people are gonna look at this game and say, well, the last time we played the Pistons, we also had DeAndre Hunt. I get it. He had 20 points. I feel you. I hear you. But we did not have Clint Capella in that game, somebody that possibly could have been a presence in the paint. And Clint looked rusty in his last game. He looked like somebody who hadn't played. So hopefully he's shaking that rust off and he'll be looking better in this game. Also, you have to understand, we will not have Dominic Barlow this game because he was sent down to the G League yesterday, as a matter of fact. So Dominic Barlow will not be with the Atlanta Hawks. Moving forward with that, I would like to get into X-Factors. For those who have seen my previews before, I always like to X-Factor at least three players for the Hawks that I think will have an impact. And shoot, man, these guys right here, it's kinda like you already know who one person is gonna be, but you may be surprised at the other two. Let's see what happens. Ice Trey Young. Trey is going to have to, for one thing, facilitate. He's gonna have to score. His scoring has been going up anyway. He only has two games in the month of February to where he hadn't had a 30-point game. His scoring had to go up because we lost Jalen Johnson, and he knew that his scoring was gonna have to go up, and it has. The turnovers are gonna have to be limited. He's gonna have to limit his turnovers. This team cannot get extra possessions for any reason at all. Okay, so continue to go out there and be Ice Trey Young. Continue to go out there. You know, so he's gonna shoot his shots. He's gonna do his thing, but mainly, as long as he keeps everybody involved and keeps those turnovers down, I do believe that we have a great chance of winning this game. So Trey, just go out there being Trey. Continue to be the leader, the head of the snake, and I believe that we can take down these Detroit Motorheads. Next guy, Dyson Daniels. Yeah, Dyson Daniels is a X Factor. Why? Because he had such a terrible game the last game. I'm pretty sure a competitor like Dyson is ready to get back after it, because against the magic, some of his shots after a while, especially in the second half, I kind of feel like he was just doing it. You know, you're just trying to see something go into the basket so bad. You're just like, I just gotta have this. I just gotta make a play, instead of letting the game come to you. And Dyson also, he's going to have to go up against Cade Cunningham, attempting to try to slow him down. Now, Cade is a bigger guard, so he's gonna try to shield Dyson Daniels off of him. But Dyson has to continue to fight. We have to guard the shooters. Guys like Malik Beasley, guys like Tobias Harris, who have been great for the Detroit Pistons, and even Tim Hardaway Jr., who's been a sleeper as well. They also have Dennis Schroeder over there for defense. So they're gonna have their own guy that's gonna be chasing around, like Trey Young. And we have our guy, Dyson Daniels, who we trust, the Great Barrier Thief. I believe he can have a bounce back game on both ends to help the Atlanta Hawks take down these Detroit Motorheads. Last guy is Zachary Richerche. Yeah, man, my favorite rookie, and it's not just because he plays for the Atlanta Hawks, man, he has so much potential at 6'8". So many different things you can do with Zachary Richerche. I know he's on a minutes restriction. Can't wait for that to be over next season. But this year, I believe that you still need to feature Zach Richerche. I mean, you don't have Jalen Johnson. You're looking for offense in the non-Trey Young minutes. Maybe you can have Zach come in sometimes. I know he starts, but in some aspects, maybe you can have him come in against other guys' second unit and get some points. In any way that you can get it, I want to see Zachary Richerche produced because I think he's ready to. I know he's only 19, but he's played with grown men, and the man has two 30, multiple 30-point games now to where he has no turnovers. That's just unheard of for a 19-year-old. I think you need to give him more minutes, even if it's a few minutes, like what? Give him 30 minutes a game. I know he's been right out there hovering around at 25, 20-minute mark, but give him like 30 minutes a game. See what he can do. You may have a pleasant surprise right under you, but you'll never see it and you'll never know it if you don't give the opportunity. Guys need oppos, okay? Guys need oppos, they need opportunities, and if you give him an opportunity, I believe that he will pay dividends for you. I believe that he is ready, so you gotta take care of business. The Atlanta Hawks, man, we have a nice stretch because you got teams that are in front of you that you can beat and possibly get closer to leapfrogging. Like I said, huge game. This is the last time, the last time we played the Detroit Pistons, and we have to take care of business because we have the Miami Heat on a back-to-back. Right after the Detroit Pistons game, we got the Miami Heat coming in on Monday night, and we gotta take care of business there, then go on the road to Miami and play them yet again. You have an opportunity to leapfrog these guys and gain two more wins against them, and against them the Eastern Conference, to climb back up into the playoff picture, guys. Last opportunity against the Detroit Pistons. Let's tie this series up. Let's gain some confidence, get off the snide of this losing streak that we're on. Let's also end the winning streak that the Detroit Motorheads are on. That's the perfect way to go ahead and shake off the rust and get into this playoff picture, get into this playoff fight. I believe in this, Atlanta Hawks. I know it's gonna be tough. It's not always gonna be easy. You're gonna have ups and downs. We gotta have better games from our guys because we have the best bench in the NBA, I believe, even though we do not have DeAndre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovich, who we're gonna see real soon, too, by the way. But, guys, this has been Atlanta Hawks Digest. Thank you so very much for making us your first listen. When you need the Hawks content, and come on through, man, to the post-game. I believe me and Walter, we're putting something together to possibly give you guys a impactful post-game, and hopefully, from the Atlanta Hawks defeating the Detroit Motorheads, aka the Detroit Pistons, at State Farm Arena on Sunday, February 23rd. Until next time, guys, please be safe. Peace and blessings to you, and I will hop.