Take the Cavaliers game played 24 hours earlier, but reverse the outcome and you have the Pistons/Hawks match up in a nutshell. The 116-84 loss to the Hawks was the Pistons 39th of the year.

Key Points:

• Lawrence Frank rested Ben Wallace and Tayshaun Prince.
• Austin Daye a chance to start to I’m sure see what his future holds in the Motor City. Daye did less than impress going just 1-for-11 with 4 points on the night in 29 minutes on the floor for the Pistons. He’s not doing much to make his case here, or in the league for that matter. He’s got to work through whatever it is that has him in this funk. I know we have been down on him this season, but he looked turrrable last night.
• Ex Pistons (for a season) Tracy McGrady had a season high 17 against his former team.
• Pistons starters just 30 points.
• It was as bad as this…the Hawks led 40-20 after the first.
• At this point it’s about the lottery and finding out who’s going to be here next season.
• Stuckey scoreless.
• Greg Monroe scored 17 points and was the only Detroit starter in double figures.
• Macklin time! Vernon Macklin got his first minutes since returning from his D-League stint, when he averaged 14 points and 14 rebounds in 10 games. Macklin showed promise scoring eight points and grabbing nine rebounds in 23 minutes.
• Vernon Macklin: “I’m glad Coach gave me the opportunity to go out and play significant minutes,” he said. “It felt great. I’m just disappointed we lost. We’re going to regroup and just keep on working harder. I can say I gained a lot of confidence by getting an opportunity to play and getting some touches down in the D-League. I think I did OK. That’s about it.”
• Want to watch the lowlights?

[flashvideo file=http://nba.cdn.turner.com/nba/big/games/hawks/2012/04/18/0021100922_det_atl_recap.nba_nba_576x324.flv /]
Via NBA.com

• Walker D wants to stay in the “D”, not the D-League. The Walkman scored 15 on 5-for-8 shooting with an assist, a steal and 2 boards in 12 minutes.
• Charlie V with 14 on 5-for-11 shooting.
• Another game tonight against the Kevin Loveless Timberwolves at the Palace should be interesting.