Zach Harper of CBS Sports: “During the 2005-06 season, the Detroit Pistons were enjoying another spectacular regular season. They were coming off back-to-back NBA Finals appearances with one championship and a roster of complementary players was fueling their success. There wasn’t one superstar; rather it was a team effort that made them so impossible to handle. Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace were protecting the paint and dominating the boards. Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton controlled the scoring on the perimeter and Tayshaun Prince was the glue guy on a team full of them. The Pistons were cruising into All-Star weekend with a record of 42-9 and were being rewarded by opposing coaches around the East with four All-Star selections. Detroit really wanted its entire starting five selected, but Prince never received that honor.”
Paul Flannery of SB Nation: “BOSTON — The Atlanta Hawks are having a moment, which as they’re quick to remind you is all they’re entitled to right now. “We’ve still got a long way to go,” coach Mike Budenholzer intones like a mantra. “We’ve put in the work and now we get to enjoy some success, early in the season,” center Al Horford said before helpfully repeating the last part. “It’s still very early in the season.” It is, and it also isn’t. We’re at the midway point and while the Raptors and Wizards go through their growing pains, the Bulls break down physically and the Cavaliers continue to flounder, the Atlanta Hawks of all teams have emerged as the Eastern Conference’s best. The same Hawks who have often been treated like strangers by fans in their own building. The same Hawks who came to define the league’s peculiar curse of being good, but never great. The same Hawks who are still dealing with the fallout from racially-charged comments made by one of their owners and former general manager Danny Ferry that were made available by a different owner, and who are now completely up for sale … Yes, those Hawks.”
Chris Vivlamore of the AJC: “Derrick Rose summed it up this way. “They don’t have any super, super stars but they have very good players and they love playing with each other and it shows,” the Bulls point guard said of the Hawks following Saturday’s game. The Bulls became the latest team steamrolled by the Hawks in a 107-99 defeat. The Hawks juggernaut continues as they won for the 12th straight time, both over and also on the road. This incredible run has reached 26 wins in the past 28 games. Seriously, the Hawks just won four road games in five nights – two against lower-level teams while resting starters and two against top-level teams in the Eastern Conference. Here are my five observations from the latest of impressive victories: 1. The Hawks again led by double-digit points as they had a 15-point advantage during the game. They improved to 28-1 this season with holding a double-digit lead at any point during the game. What may have been overlooked is that the Bulls never led on their home court. The game was tied three times, the latest at 7-7 with 2:42 gone the first quarter. The Hawks took the lead for good on a Paul Millsap dunk 34 seconds later and never looked back. Once the Hawks took at double-digit lead, on a Kyle Korver 3-pointer 21 seconds into the second quarter, the Bulls never got closer than five points.”
