Atlanta Hawks at Pistons: Game thread

Auburn Hills, Mich.–Hawks will use same lineup as last game with Zaza Pachulia at center. “It’s not set in stone,” Larry Drew said. “We will stay with it for right now.”

• Drew said Kirk Hinrich had no issues after his first game back from shoulder surgery. “We are going to ease him back into it,” Drew said. “He still has to get into that playing shape where he can play on a nightly basis. I don’t want to pile too many minutes on him.”
• Drew said “for right now we will keep [Hinrich] at the one. He could play off the ball some. There are a couple of things I possibly want to experiment with as we move forward: him at some two, Joe [Johnson] at some three, that type of thing.”
• ESPN.com’s Marc Stein runs down a list of teams who will compete with the Hawks for Kenyon Martin’s services and says K-Mart is looking for a major role on a contender.
• Drew on the Pistons: “They play a very physical style. That has always been a problem or us in the past. They really bang the boards. I told the guys by no means can we come in here and think these guys are going to lay down. They’ve had some close ballgames that they could have won. Looking back at their last game against Miami they were in perfect position to win.”
• Damien Wilkins is starting for the Pistons tonight. “Our effort has been a lot better, our fight has been a lot better,” he said. “To me, that’s what we had been lacking the most. We had kind of a glass jaw. Now we have a lot more effort, a lot more fight.”
• Wilkins on not getting an offer from the Hawks: “It was disappointing. They basically told me they weren’t bringing in anymore perimeter guy and I’d have to fight [for a spot] with Pape Sy and [Jerry] Stackhouse. And then I look up and here they are with Willie Green and two other wings, and I’m like, ‘Wow.’ It was fun. I appreciate the opportunity they gave me initially. But I miss the guys.”
• The rec center in northwest Detroit Willie Green came up is now called the Willie Green Center for Physical Fitness. Green attended a ceremony yesterday. “My uncle [Gary Green] was coaching a team up there,” Green said. “He used to open up the gym for us, so we were going up there every day. That’s where I first started playing basketball. It was awesome when I walked in the place. I couldn’t believe the gym was so little. I came from humble beginnings like a lot of us.”

Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat