AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Greg Monroe was in street clothes, Reggie Jackson looked like a cast member from "The Walking Dead" and Spencer Dinwiddie was getting X-rays in the bowels of the stadium.
A rout for the Eastern Conference's best team, right?
Not with this Pistons team. Even shorthanded, they pulled away late to beat the Atlanta Hawks 105-95 Tuesday night at the Palace.
John Lucas III, playing for the first time since March 13, had 15 points. Caron Butler and Tayshaun Prince combined for 16 more from the small-forward position, and Joel Anthony gave the Pistons 17 minutes of tough interior defense at center.
Andre Drummond was his usual self, racking up 22 points, 13 rebounds.
"I am so honored to coach the great veterans on this team, and I hope all of our young guys are learning from the way they work," Stan Van Gundy said. "Joel is always ready to give us great defense, and John hadn't played in weeks. But when we needed him tonight, he was there to get us through the game.
"Caron and Tayshaun, too. This is just a great group of veterans working with a young core."
Lucas, signed in the aftermath of Brandon Jennings' season-ending injury, had lost his playing time to Diwiddie. That all changed in the first half Tuesday, though. Jackson started the game, but came out in the first half and needed attention from the trainers and team doctors.
"He's sick, but we're not exactly sure what is happening there," Van Gundy said. "His stomach was bothering him. He was throwing up and was having trouble breathing."
That should have meant long minutes for Dinwiddie, but that plan went out the window when he sprained his ankle early in the second quarter. Jackson returned for a few minutes, then started the third and fourth quarters, but had to quickly give way to Lucas each time.
Still, in the 22 minutes he managed, Jackson finished with 12 points and 11 assists, including seven points at the start of the fourth quarter -- his last stint of the night.
"When Reggie is attacking, we are a much better offense," Van Gundy said. "It was harder for him tonight because he was so sick. But he went in there and made things happen for three or four minutes and then he had to come out again."
With the first seed locked up throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs, Mike Budenholzer coached like it was a football game, using two separate platoons, switching near the end of each quarter.
That resulted in one of the odder box scores in recent memory, with Atlanta's five starters all playing exactly 23:44, and four of the reserves playing 24:16. The only break in his pattern was to get Austin Daye a few minutes at the end of each half.
"We wanted to really give the starting group with Jeff (Teague), Kyle (Korver), DeMarre (Carroll) and Paul (Millsap) a lot of reps together and a lot of time together," Budenholzer said. "The same thing for the second group.
"We’ve used a lot of different combinations, so tonight we wanted to give the two main groups all the reps."
Meaning the Hawks weren't playing at top gear.
Still, the Pistons are 6-2 without Monroe and 24-22 since Christmas -- an impressive record giving the roster turmoil that the team has undergone in that stretch.
