In an all too familiar twist, the Atlanta Hawks dropped Wednesday’s game to the New York Knicks based largely on one ugly quarter of play. After a day off on Thursday, the Hawks will be back in action on Friday evening and, this time, the Detroit Pistons come to town to complete a mini-homestand.

After this particular contest, Lloyd Pierce’s team will hit the road for what appears be a very difficult trip but, in this game, there are reasons for optimism. Atlanta enters as a five-point home underdog against Detroit, but the Pistons have lost five of six games and aren’t overwhelmingly talented when compared to an average NBA squad.

With that said, the Pistons do feature a pair of high-end big men in Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond. Griffin operates (very) well on the perimeter and, with John Collins on the shelf, it will be a tall task for Omari Spellman, Alex Poythress, Vince Carter and others in trying to contain the All-Star power forward. At the center spot, Andre Drummond will pose a challenge to Alex Len, Dewayne Dedmon and, potentially, Miles Plumlee, bringing a physically imposing skill set and incredible rebounding aptitude to the table.

On the perimeter, Detroit is less dangerous but the Hawks will need to be fundamentally sound defensively and responsible with the ball offensively. Atlanta remains near the bottom of the league in both overall offensive rating and turnover rate, which is something to monitor against a Pistons squad that currently boasts a top-10 defense in the NBA, per Cleaning The Glass.

Stay tuned for all the latest from State Farm Arena.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Friday, Nov. 9, 7:30 pm ET

Location: State Farm Arena

TV: Fox Sports Southeast

Radio: 92.9 The Game (Atlanta); Hawks Radio Network

Streaming: Fox Sports Go; NBA League Pass (out of market)