The Detroit Pistons (17-20) dropped its fourth in the last five games with a 105-110 loss to the Utah Jazz (20-20).
After 2 days off, Detroit came out the gate ready to play against the Jazz who’d just played last night in Cleveland.
The Pistons jumped out to a 31-13 lead on Reggie Bullock’s hot 3-point hand. Bullock shot 4-4 from three, and a pull-up jumper to give him 14 first quarter points. Bullock made multiple threes in five-straight games. He finished tonight with five 3-pointers, giving him 19 points.
"I thought the heart, the fight, the way we started the game, is the way you have to play in this league every possession," says Pistons coach Dwane Casey.
The Jazz made a 19-7 run to start the 2nd quarter, dwelling the Pistons 18 point lead to 10 with 7:22 in the half. The Jazz would add 35 points on 61% FG shooting to cut the Pistons lead to 53-48 by halftime.
By quarters, the Pistons outscored the Jazz 31-13 in the first and never outscored Utah through the fourth.
The Jazz would claim its first lead, 87-84, with just over 8 minutes in the 4th, then built an 11-point lead to basically seal the deal.
Another solid performance for Pistons guard Bruce Brown, who again has the luxury of defending one of NBA’s elite players Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell was held to 2 first half points, but would find his way in the second half. "I think he was just being more aggressive in the second half, making tough shots. That battle goes back to high school, little back and forth."
Offensively, Brown had a career night, setting career best in scoring (12) and passing (team-high seven assist).
Andre Drummond dropped 15 points to go with 18 rebounds, and a team-high three steals in tonights contest.