Mitchell’s Second Half Lifts Utah To 110-105 Win Over Detroit
Jan 5, 2019, 7:30 PM | Updated: 7:38 pm
Andre Drummond #0 of the Detroit Pistons tries to get around the defense of Derrick Favors #15 of the Utah Jazz during the first half at Little Caesars Arena on January 05, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DETROIT, Mich. – The Utah Jazz had to overcome a poor first quarter with a fantastic second half performance from Donovan Mitchell to get the 110-105 win over the Detroit Pistons.
Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 26 points, including 24 in the second half. Joe Ingles chipped in 16 points while Ricky Rubio scored 18.
Blake Griffin dropped 34 points and 10 rebounds, while Andre Drummond had 15 points and 18 rebounds.
Slow Start Leads To Strong Second Quarter
Just over two minutes into the game, the Pistons jumped out to a 7-0 lead, forcing Jazz head coach Quin Snyder to call a timeout.
Utah stopped the run when Joe Ingles hit a three-pointer but Rudy Gobert was forced to the bench after picking up two quick fouls.
Reggie Bullock scored 11 points to give the Pistons a spark that led to a 23-10 run with four minutes left in the first quarter.
Detroit finished the first quarter with a 31-13 advantage. Bullock had 14 points while rookie Bruce Brown added seven points. The Jazz 19 percent from the field on 4-of-21 shooting.
Utah answered with a 19-7 run to begin the second quarter to trail 38-32 with five minutes left in the second quarter.
Dante Exum went to the locker room with an ankle injury and would not return. The Jazz trimmed the Pistons lead to just three.
Detroit took a 53-48 lead at halftime. Utah improved their shooting percentage to 39 on 17-of-42 shooting. The Jazz found out that Thabo Sefolosha would not return for the second half with a hamstring injury.
Jazz Cap Win With Big Fourth Quarter
The Pistons went on an 11-0 run before Derrick Favors nailed a three-pointer but Detroit’s lead was 63-55 early in the third quarter.
Mitchell found his rhythm in the third quarter with 12 points in the period and Detroit took a 78-76 lead into the fourth quarter. Utah outscored the Pistons 28-25 in the period.
The Jazz took their first lead of the game with 7:55 left in the fourth quarter on a Gobert dunk. Kyle Korver hit a big three-pointer to give the Jazz a 94-88 lead with 4:37 left.
This kid just has IT pic.twitter.com/pz097AXkpW
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 6, 2019
After the Pistons called a timeout, Rubio stole the ball and dished it to Jae Crowder for the slam, Ingles hit a corner three-pointer and the run is at 18-4.
Griffin’s hook shot put the Jazz lead to just two, 104-102 before Mitchell scored his 26th point of the game to put Utah up four with 22 seconds left. Out of the timeout, Griffin nailed a triple to cut the lead to one, forcing the Pistons to foul the Jazz. Rubio hit both free-throw attempts to bump the lead back to three. Ingles sealed the game with a steal and free-throws by Rubio.
Fought through the storm ⚔️#TeamIsEverything pic.twitter.com/95toPy3laf
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 6, 2019
Up Next
The Jazz improve to 20-20 on the season and they will finish their four game road trip on Monday against the Milwaukee Bucks. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. on AT&T SportsNet.
Milwaukee is 27-10 this season. The home team won in both meetings last season with Utah getting the 121-108 win in Salt Lake City while the Bucks picked up the 117-100 victory at home.
