Hawks try to break skid against upstart Pistons

The Atlanta Hawks continue to tumble in the standings with the trade deadline looming. They’ll carry an eight-game losing streak into their game at Detroit on Monday night.Atlanta’s outlook for the remainder of the season looks quite different than it did two weeks ago. In the Hawks’ last victory, they won in overtime on Boston’s home floor to move three games above the .500 mark. That was more than two weeks ago.Not only have they fallen in the win-loss column, they lost one of their best players to a season-ending injury. The team announced Wednesday that Jalen Johnson would require surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.The latest developments could convince the front office to make alterations to the roster. To the credit of the players who are still playing, they are fighting.The Hawks nearly snapped their losing streak at Indiana on Saturday. After Atlanta erased an 18-point deficit, the Pacers hit some key 3-pointers down the stretch and pulled out a 132-127 victory.Trae Young did all he could to keep his team in the game, racking up 34 points and 17 assists. Young’s 11.5 assist average leads the league.”This is a team sport,” he said. “I tell everybody all the time, you want to be an individual in this sport, you go play tennis, golf, all those other sports. This ain’t it. So I’m gonna continue to trust my guys and get them the ball.”With Johnson out of the lineup, coach Quin Snyder is searching for a steady replacement in the starting lineup. Dominick Barlow, who is on a two-way contact, got the nod against the Pacers and contributed 10 points and three rebounds in only 13 minutes.”Honestly, just excited about playing,” he said.

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