Jazz at Pistons
The Utah Jazz look to defeat Detroit for the eighth consecutive time when they visit the Pistons on Saturday. Utah has won four straight games overall and is 3-0 on a four-game road trip after posting a 99-94 win over the Boston Celtics on Friday.
The Jazz limited Boston to 37.2 percent shooting and held All-Star power forward Jayson Tatum to 18 points while moving into sole possession of fourth place in the Western Conference. "Everybody did a good job in coming in and stepping up," Utah's backup shooting guard Jordan Clarkson told reporters afterward. "We're going day-to-day and keep trying to progress and keep getting better." The Pistons have lost nine of their last 10 games, but coach Dwane Casey is encouraged by the effort he is receiving from the players. "That's one thing I love about this group, they compete and they are playing hard," Casey told reporters after Wednesday's 114-107 loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder. "We have a lot of growing up to do, and we have a lot of men in a lot of situations they have not been in before."
TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, FS Detroit, NBA TV Canada
ABOUT THE JAZZ (40-22): Mike Conley was 6-of-10 from 3-point range and 9-of-16 overall while notching his third-highest point total (25) of what has been an underwhelming season. "Everybody is going to have their own opinion on what Mike should be doing," All-Star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell told reporters. "But at the end of the day, he's the most unselfish, hungry, competitive, one of the greatest people I've ever played with." Conley's production against Boston was essential with Mitchell struggling with 11 points on 3-of-15 shooting and small forward Bojan Bogdanovic scoring just eight points on 2-of-9 shooting.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (20-43): Journeyman shooting guard Jordan McRae scored 15 points in 26 minutes in his team debut after joining Detroit earlier this week. McRae will get a long look down the stretch of the season and he is due to be an unrestricted free agent after the season. "You've got to make the best of the opportunity," said McRae, who also played for the Washington Wizards and Denver Nuggets this season. "I've been on one- or two-year deals and everybody's dream is to find a home and I've gotten kind of used to living out of a bag, so to speak. I never take my clothes out of the bag, never put them in the drawer because I could be gone."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Mitchell scored 23 points as the Jazz recorded a 104-81 home win over the Pistons on Dec. 30.
2. Detroit PF Christian Wood scored a career-high 29 points against the Thunder.
3. Clarkson scored 17 points against Boston and has reached double digits in 14 of the past 16 games.