Jazz survive late rally, edge Pistons 117-105

By JOHN COON

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 117-105 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night.

Mike Conley added 20 points and Bojan Bogdanovic chipped in 18 for Utah, which reclaimed the NBA's best record with the Los Angeles Clippers loss to the Brooklyn Nets earlier on Tuesday. Royce O'Neale tallied 12 points and 13 rebounds.

The Jazz (16-5) won their ninth straight home game.

Jerami Grant scored 27 points to lead Detroit and Josh Jackson added 22. Mason Plumlee totaled 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Pistons. Detroit (5-16) lost its second straight game.

The Pistons trailed by as many as 28 points in the first half before rallying late in the fourth quarter. Jackson, Grant, and Plumlee scored baskets on three straight possessions to fuel a 10-1 run that cut Utah's lead to 109-105 with 2:06 left.

Bogdanovic slammed the door on a further rally with back-to-back corner threes, giving the Jazz a 115-105 lead with 48.6 seconds to go.

Mitchell and Conley each scored a pair of baskets on the first four Jazz possessions and it helped Utah build up a 24-9 lead in the first quarter. The Jazz capitalized on poor shooting from the Pistons. Detroit missed 12 of its first 16 shots and trailed by double digits for much of the quarter. Utah shot 54% from the field in the same stretch.

The Pistons went nearly five minutes during the first quarter without scoring a basket before Grant's jumper with 2:08 left in the quarter ended the drought.

Things did not improve for the Pistons on either end of the court in the second quarter. Detroit trimmed the deficit to 45-33 on Plumlee's tip dunk. Utah quickly ripped off a 9-0 run to keep the Pistons from pulling within single digits. Bogdanovic scored back-to-back 3-pointers to spark the brief spurt.

The Jazz then scored on seven straight possessions to extend their lead to 69-41 later in the quarter. Utah hit eight free throws during that stretch to pull away from Detroit.

TIP-INS

Pistons: Blake Griffin shot just 2-of-9 from the field in the first half and shot 4-of-13 overall. He ripped his jersey in half in frustration as he left the court at halftime. . The Pistons outscored the Jazz 20-8 in second-chance points and 22-10 in Fastbreak points. . Detroit went 18-of-20 from the free-throw line.

Jazz: Team PA announcer Dan Roberts missed just his seventh game in 42 seasons. Roberts did not attend the game due to NBA health and safety protocols. Tony Parks filled in for Roberts. .Utah made is first 16 free throws before Gobert missed one with 9:19 left in the third quarter. The Jazz finished 25-of-29 from the line. . Joe Ingles dished out five of his team-high six assists in the first half.

UP NEXT

Pistons: Visit the Phoenix Suns on Friday.

Jazz: Visit the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday.

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