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Pistons 114, Jazz 94

Alan Draper profile picture
Sports Editor
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SALT LAKE CITY — Center Andre Drummond and forward Greg Monroe both had double-doubles and the Detroit Pistons ended a four-game Western Conference swing Monday on a positive note with a 114-94 win over the Utah Jazz.

Drummond scored 19 points with 14 rebounds, Monroe contributed 18 points and 11 boards and guard Rodney Stuckey added 19 points off the bench as the Pistons snapped their five-game losing streak.

Detroit, which still has an outside shot at a playoff spot, improved to 26-44 with a rare win in the Beehive State after 10 straight setbacks. The Pistons trail eighth-place Atlanta (31-38) by 5.5 games.

Shooting guard Gordon Hayward led all scorers with 32 points and dished out a team-best six assists for Utah.

The Jazz, however, could not keep their momentum from a thrilling last-second 89-88 win over Orlando on Saturday. Utah fell to 23-48 with its 12th loss in its last 14 games.

Detroit jumped ahead of Utah 9-2, forcing a visibly upset Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin to call a quick timeout.

The home team settled down for a while, pulling within 26-23 at the end of the first quarter. But Detroit dominated the second quarter, outscoring the Jazz 34-17 and taking a 60-40 halftime lead thanks in part to Drummond’s 10-point period.

The Jazz, who won the worst record in the West, showed some life in the third quarter after their deficit reached 25 points.

Forward Richard Jefferson scored eight of his 12 points, including two 3-pointers, in a 13-1 Jazz run midway through the third quarter.

But after the Jazz pulled within a dozen points a moment later at 76-64, Detroit responded with a 9-3 spurt that helped it take a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter.

Utah was again without one of its top offensive players as sixth man Alec Burks missed his second game with a sprained left ankle. Forward Marvin Williams scored 11 points with seven rebounds off the bench, but the Jazz only got 17 points from their reserves.

Meanwhile, Detroit got a nice lift from its backups, with Stuckey’s contributions and 13 points from guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope leading a 45-point effort from the subs.

In a statistical sign of Detroit’s domination, the Pistons outshot the Jazz 55.4 percent to 41 percent and outrebounded Utah 53-33 while winning a wire-to-wire contest.

NOTES: Jazz G Trey Burke has a hard time understanding how some fans would rather see the team lose to improve its lottery chances than win games. “I think that’s just selfish for a fan. We play hard, practice hard every single day. Why would we want to go out there and try to lose?” the former Michigan star said. “Wherever we do land in the lottery, that will be great for us, but to try to tank games and lose games, I think, is just absurd.” … Jazz SG Gordon Hayward, an Indiana native, didn’t fill out an NCAA bracket this year. Why? “Butler wasn’t in it,” he said. “There’s no Indiana teams. I’m kind of out of it this year.” … Hayward admitted it is hard for the Hoosier State, seeing as none of its 10 Division I basketball programs participated in March Madness. “A lot of Indiana people are (upset) about it. There’s nobody to root for. Basketball is supposed to be Indiana’s sport. It was a tough year for them.” … Detroit leads the NBA in points in the paint with 52.6 per game. … Pistons C Andre Drummond is closing in on a franchise shooting record. He entered Monday’s game with a field-goal percentage of .619, putting him ahead of Detroit’s all-time leading shooter Dennis Rodman, who shot 59.5 percent in 1988-89 and 56.1 percent the previous season.

Alan is an expert gambling writer who works as one of the chief editors for Basketball Insiders. He has been covering online gambling and sports betting for over 8 years, having written for the likes of Sportlens, Compare.bet, The Sports Daily, 90min, and TopRatedCasinos.co.uk. His particular specialisms include US online casinos and gambling regulations, and soccer and basketball betting. Based in London, Alan holds an MA in English Literature and is a passionate supporter of Chelsea FC.

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