Jazz at Pistons
The Detroit Pistons ended an otherwise poor road trip with a win and will try to build some momentum at home when they take on the visiting Utah Jazz on Saturday. After losses in 12 of their previous 15 games, including the first three of the road trip, the Pistons picked up a 101-94 victory at Memphis on Wednesday.
Blake Griffin scored 26 points while grabbing eight rebounds and handing out seven assists as Detroit improved to 5-3 against Western Conference opponents. "There were several strings of stops and that's what it takes to win on the road," Griffin told reporters after his team held the Grizzlies to 39 second-half points. "Five stops, six stops in a row." Detroit will be hard-pressed for stops against a Jazz team that has won five of eight and is averaging 120.7 points over the last three games. Donovan Mitchell led eight players in double figures with 18 points in Friday's 117-91 win at Cleveland.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah), FS Detroit
ABOUT THE JAZZ (19-20): Mitchell was 7-for-12 from the floor to post his best single-game shooting percentage (58.3) since he went 7-for-10 at New Orleans on Oct. 27. Center Rudy Gobert has been on the mark as well with 20 makes in 23 attempts over his last three games, and the 7-footer had five blocked shots Friday night. Gobert had 22 points and 11 rebounds in the last meeting with the Pistons on March 13, 2018.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (17-19): Andre Drummond recorded his 30th double-double in the win over Memphis while Reggie Jackson added 16 points while making 4-of-8 3-pointers. Luke Kennard led the reserves with 13 points and he is seemingly regaining the confidence in his shot, hitting two big 3-pointers down the stretch after passing up an open shot earlier on. "I heard everybody over there," Kennard told reporters of his teammates and coaches urging him to shoot. "I've been in situations like that during the season where I have shots I needed to take and that's another thing I'm continuing to work on."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Jazz have won the last four meetings.
2. Utah PF Jae Crowder is averaging 23 points in 25.5 minutes over his last two games.
3. The teams meet again nine days later in Utah.