The Atlanta Hawks drowned in a deluge of three-pointers in Cleveland and, to put it frankly, that was a familiar feeling for all parties involved. Following that defeat, though, the team returns home to Philips Arena to play host to the Detroit Pistons on Thursday evening.

While there was big-time optimism surrounding the Pistons earlier in the season, Detroit has fallen on hard times in recent days. Andre Drummond and company have dropped seven (!) in a row and, even with all seven defeats coming at the hands of playoff-quality teams, the visitors aren’t playing quite as well as they did earlier in the year.

On the flip side, however, that stretch of ineptitude could present an additional layer of inspiration for the Pistons in this spot. Drummond presents all kinds of match-up problems for Atlanta given his rebounding ability and new-found passing acumen but the potential return of John Collins would help on at least one of those fronts and it isn’t as if Detroit’s overall talent level projects to overwhelm the Hawks.

From a Las Vegas perspective, the Pistons are favored by four points in this spot and, while that is not necessarily a surprise, Atlanta has been frisky in that regard lately. Regardless of how competitive the game is “supposed” to be, it will be nice to see the Hawks at Philips Arena again and, hopefully, at closer to full strength in this spot.

Stay tuned throughout the afternoon and evening for all the festivities and we will see if the Hawks can emerge with back-to-back victories and a weekend sweep.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Thursday, December 14, 7:30 p.m. ET

Location: Philips Arena

TV: Fox Sports Southeast, Fox Sports Go, NBA League Pass

Radio: 92.9 The Game (Atlanta)