Atlanta Hawks (56-18) at Detroit Pistons (28-45), 7:30 p.m. (ET)
(SportsNetwork.com) - The Atlanta Hawks continue their preparation for the Eastern Conference playoffs Tuesday night when they visit The Palace of Auburn Hills to meet the Detroit Pistons.
The Hawks clinched the top seed in the conference and will own homecourt advantage throughout the East playoffs. Head coach Mike Budenholzer will rest some guys during the last two weeks of the season, but his starters played on Monday.
Atlanta toppled the slumping Milwaukee Bucks, 101-88, at Philips Arena.
Kyle Korver only finished with 11 points, but they came in a 65-second span. At 5:49 in the third quarter, Korver hit his first 3 of the game. On the next three possessions, he scored eight more points. Atlanta's lead ballooned from five points to 16, and it held on from there to win for the third time in four games.
DeMarre Carroll led the Hawks with 23 points, Al Horford contributed 18, and Paul Millsap finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.
"It was a pretty consistent effort on both ends of the court," said Budenholzer.
Atlanta guard Dennis Schroder left the game in the first quarter with a toe injury. He is listed as out for Tuesday's game. Budenholzer may elect to rest some starters with Tuesday's game being the second of a back-to-back.
The Pistons are not technically out of the playoff race yet. They trail the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets, co-occupants of the eighth seed, by 4 1/2 games.
Detroit had a four-game winning streak snapped Sunday night in a 109-102 road loss to the Miami Heat.
The Pistons staged a second-half rally, but it wasn't enough. The team couldn't contain Dwyane Wade, who torched Detroit for 40 points, including 19 in the fourth quarter.
Andre Drummond scored a career-high 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Pistons. Reggie Jackson added 31 points, but the rest of the Pistons combined to shoot just 14-of-49.
The Heat led by 17, but did not score in the final four minutes of the third period. Detroit pulled within 71-65 when it finished the third quarter on an 11-0 run that included two long-distance shots from Jodie Meeks.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's layup opened the fourth and cut the Pistons' deficit to four, but Wade scored the next four points in a 12-4 spurt to regain some breathing room.
"We had too many defensive breakdowns, and we missed far too many shots," said Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy.
The Pistons head to Charlotte and Chicago, starting Wednesday night.
The Hawks will go for a season sweep on Wednesday for the first time since the 2008-09 season.