Atlanta Hawks Officially Clinch Spot In NBA Play-In Tournament With 121-113 Over The Detroit Pistons

The Atlanta Hawks came into tonight's game vs the Detroit Pistons needing a win to officially clinch a spot in the NBA's play-in tournament and it was a crazier game than anyone, but the Hawks got the win over one of the NBA's worst teams that was also missing their best player.

This was the sixth win in the last seven games for the Hawks and they are now tied with the Chicago Bulls for the No. 9 spot in the Eastern Conference.. The Bulls hold the tiebreaker due to winning the season series, but the Hawks have closed a lot of ground over the past couple of weeks.

This was also a big night for Hawks forward Jalen Johnson, who recorded the first triple double of his career. Johnson was reinserted into the starting lineup and has made a huge difference on the Hawks already.

The schedule is going to get a lot tougher for the Hawks over these final few games and this was a must win for them. It was not their best performance of the season by any stretch, but they got the job done and clinched a spot in the play-in.

Let's recap a wild night in Atlanta.

After Cade Cunningham was a very late scratch, Marcus Sasser started in his place alongside Jaden Ivey, Troy Brown Jr, Tosan Evbuomwan, and Jalen Duren.

Atlanta moved Jalen Johnson back to the starting lineup in place of Vit Krejci. Dejounte Murray, Bogdan Bogdanovic, De'Andre Hunter, and Clint Capela.

Without Cunningham on the floor, you could have predicted that Detroit's offense was going to struggle and that was true right out of the gate. The Hawks jumped out to an 11-4 lead and the Pistons were having trouble making a basket. It looked like Atlanta might run away with the game early, but the Hawks offense had a bumpy start as well.

After shooting the Bulls off the floor on Monday, Atlanta was struggling throughout the first half shooting from three, especially in the first quarter. Atlanta started 1-8 from three, but the good news was that Detroit was somehow worse (0-6). Atlanta led 28-23 after the first and Hunter (6) and Johnson (7) led the way for Atlanta. Duren led the Pistons with nine points

Then bech rotation tonight was Kobe Bufkin, Vit Krejci, Garrison Matthews, and Bruno Fernando.

The second quarter saw the Hawks unable to pull away and the Pistons hanging around. With Cunningham a late scratch, the Pistons were going to need other players to step up and find ways to score. They found someone to do that and it was backup guard Malachi Flynn.

Flynn got his big night going in the first quarter when he came off the bench for eight points and he continued that in the second quarter when he scored nine. He led all scorers at halftime and the Hawks only led by nine points, 59-50 at the half.

The Hawks were shooting 52% in the first half from the field, but only 25% from three. After one of their best shooting nights vs Chicago on Monday, the Hawks were unable to connect from deep in the first half of this game. Dejounte Murray led the way for Atlanta with 14 points, Hunter had 13, and Kobe Bufkin came off the bench to give the Hawks seven first-half points. It was probably the best half that Bufkin has played as a Hawks this season.

Detroit shot 37% from the field in the first half and 27% from three. Flynn led the way with 17 points.

Because of Flynn, the Pistons had a big advantage in bench points, 22-9.

It looked like the Hawks were finally going to start pulling away from the Pistons in the third quarter. Atlanta led by as much 22 points, but Flynn kept knocking shots down for the Pistons. He was 5-5 from the field and scored 14 points.

After a tough couple of games shooting the ball, De'Andre Hunter found a way to make an impact tonight. He scored 10 points in the third quarter and shot 4-5 from the field. Johnson had another big quarter with eight points, three assists, and three rebounds. Atlanta led 92-79 going to the final quarter.

The fourth quarter was a bit of a roller coaster.

The Hawks never felt like they were in danger of seriously losing this game, but Flynn just kept coming and making shots. With Detroit lacking any sort of viable scorer with Cunningham out, Flynn took it upon himself to lift the Pistons offense.

Flynn scored 19 points in the final quarter and shot 8-12 from the field and 3-6 from three. Detroit scored 34 points in the fourth quarter and Flynn had over half of those. No other player on Detroit had more than six points in the fourth quarter.

Atlanta found a way to close the Pistons out and in doing so in the fourth quarter, Johnson recorded his first triple double.

It was closer than they may have wanted in the end, but Atlanta found a way to win 121-113.

Johnson led the way with his big performance, scoring 28 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and dishing out 11 assists. Hunter had 26 points on 11-16 shooting and Murray had 24 points, as well as 11 assists. Capela had another double-double, finishing with 11 poitnts and 16 rebounds. The Hawks outrebounded the Pistons 48-37.

Flynn finished with one of the most impressive games from a bench player that you will see. He scored 50 points on 18-25 shooting and 9-12 from three. It was super impressive and Flynn showed he has a place in the league.

Detroit shot 46% from the field and 33% from three in tonight's game. Duren and Marcus Sasser were the next leading scorers with 11.

It was a crazy night in State Farm Arena, but the end result was Atlanta clinching their spot in the NBA's play-in tournament and Jalen Johnson recording one of his best nights as a pro.

Atlanta is going to have a tall task tomorrow. Not only are they playing on a back-to-back, but they are going to Dallas to play the red hot Mavericks. The last time these two teams played, Luka Doncic had one of the best scoring nights in NBA history, dropping 73 points on the Hawks. It will be a tough game for Atlanta on the road tomorrow.