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Jazz 88, Pistons 85
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.
All posts by Alan DraperUpdated12 hours ago on April 23, 2024
SALT LAKE CITY — Derrick Favors scored a game-high 26 points and the Utah Jazz continued their hot streak with an 88-85 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday at EnergySolutions Arena.
The Jazz held off a late Pistons rally to win for a season-high fifth consecutive outing and for the 10th time in 12 games since the All-Star break.
Utah (29-36) hadn’t had a five-game winning streak since stringing together that many victories from March 25-April 1, 2013.
Power forward Greg Monroe led Detroit with 16 points and 13 rebounds, but the Pistons (23-43) fell for the second consecutive night and for the 10th time in a row.
Detroit center Andre Drummond only played 11 minutes before leaving the game for good with a concussion. He finished with just four points and two rebounds.
The Pistons used a 30-point fourth-quarter explosion — as many as Detroit scored in the first and third quarters combined — to challenge the Jazz until the final horn.
Jazz center Rudy Gobert had another big game with 10 points, 19 rebounds and two blocked shots, but the 7-foot-1 big man missed an opportunity to clinch the win with three seconds remaining.
Gobert was off on both free-throw attempts, leaving the door open for a desperation game-tying attempt by Detroit. However, Spencer Dinwiddie’s half-court heave sailed to the left of the hoop at the buzzer.
The Pistons cut Utah’s lead to one a few times in the final minute, but small forward Gordon Hayward answered with a slam dunk on one occasion, rookie Rodney Hood responded with a jumper and former Michigan star Trey Burke hit a clutch floater off the backboard with 13 seconds remaining the final time.
Hayward and Hood both scored 12 points for the Jazz.
Anthony Tolliver chipped in 14 points off the bench for Detroit, which traveled to Utah after losing in Portland on Friday night.
The Pistons have now lost to Utah in 18 of 21 matchups.
NOTES: Detroit F Shawne Williams did not play after being suspended without pay for one game by the NBA for head-butting Portland C Joel Freeland during Friday’s Pistons-Blazers game. Freeland was also suspended for the incident. … Jazz SF Gordon Hayward received two nominations for the 2015 Governor’s State of Sport Awards for Utah athletes, including for Professional/Olympian Male and Event/Highlight of the Year for his buzzer-beating game-winner against Cleveland in November. … Pistons G John Lucas III played for Utah last season.
