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McGrady, Pistons beat Hawks by 23

Dec 15, 2010 - 6:29 AM Auburn Hills, MI (Sports Network) - Tracy McGrady hit four three-pointers in a dominant fourth quarter, leading the Detroit Pistons in a 103-80 rout of the Atlanta Hawks.

McGrady scored a season-high 16 points for the Pistons, who snapped a four- game losing streak. Detroit has dominated Atlanta at home in recent years, winning 10 of the last 11 meetings at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

"It'd be nice to be able to play like this on a consistent basis," McGrady said. "It's just one game. Still, we've got to find ourselves. We've got to do this every night."

Richard Hamilton scored 24 to lead Detroit, and Charlie Villanueva added 23 with 11 rebounds in the victory. Rodney Stuckey contributed 16 points and 10 assists.

The Pistons headed into the fourth with a 64-61 lead, but dominated the fourth quarter by 20 -- 39-19 -- en route to the easy win.

Josh Smith had a game-high 26 points for the Hawks, who lost for just the third time in 11 games. Al Horford recorded 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Mike Bibby had 14 points in defeat.

"You've got to give Detroit credit; they made shots," said Atlanta head coach Larry Drew. "Defensively, we didn't play with a sense of urgency...We fell apart in the fourth quarter."

The fourth began as a three-point game, but didn't stay that way for long.

An 8-0 run by the Pistons ended on McGrady's first three-pointer of the period, giving the home team a 74-63 lead. After Smith countered with a three, Villanueva had a pair of dunks, and McGrady hit another three for a 15-point margin with six minutes left.

McGrady's next trey capped a 7-0 spurt that raised the difference to 18, and his fourth made it a 100-74 contest with under two minutes to go.

Detroit, which led wire-to-wire, held a 28-19 lead after the first quarter and increased its advantage to 49-37 at halftime.

Atlanta began the third quarter on an 11-0 surge, cutting its deficit to a single point on Marvin Williams' three-pointer. Detroit, though, responded with a 9-2 burst to push its lead back to eight.

Baskets by Bibby and Smith in the last minute made it a three-point game after 36 minutes of play.

Game Notes

Atlanta fell to 8-5 on the road...Villanueva tied a season-high in rebounds...The season series is tied, 1-1...Detroit won the rebounding battle, 43-31.