Pistons fall to Jazz 98-95 in overtime thriller

The Utah Jazz dug out of a 9-point hole late in the 4th quarter to hand the Detroit Pistons their 6th straight loss. Detroit now sits 2 games below .500 at 22-24.

The Detroit Pistons found themselves in their second straight down-to-the-wire finish after falling to Brooklyn on Sunday. Yet again, they were not able to grind out a win, falling 98-95 to the Utah Jazz in their first overtime game of the season.

Seesaw first half

It was a back-and-forth affair early, with a whopping 14 lead changes in the first 15 minutes of the game. Neither team led by more than 3 points until midway through the second quarter, when the Pistons went on a quick 7-0 run sparked by Ish Smith. Also in the first half, Luke Kennard had one of his more impressive all-around stretches of the season, playing 13 minutes and contributing 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.

After starting the game 7-13 from the field, the Jazz went 4 for their next 17. Detroit looked connected on defense, contesting shots and limiting the productivity of Utah’s second unit. An alley-oop from Tobias Harris to Andre Drummond with 2 minutes left in the half gave the Pistons their largest lead at 8, and they took a 49-43 lead to the half.

Down to the wire

The Pistons struggled in the third quarter, scoring only 15 points, allowing Utah to take a 65-64 lead to the fourth. After a Raul Neto three, Utah took its largest lead of the game, 72-66. But, two triples from Anthony Tolliver helped the Pistons climb back in the lead by 2 with 6 minutes to play, his only 6 points of the game.

Following his All-Star snub, the hope was that Andre Drummond would come out with some intensity, and that he did. With the score knotted at 79 with just over 4 minutes to play, Drummond scored 6 straight points, including 2 thunderous dunks. He followed that up with a block on Rudy Gobert at the rim, leading to a Tobias Harris triple to take a 9 point lead.

But, Utah was not finished. Joe Johnson scored a couple buckets to bring the lead to one, and a Joe Ingles layup with 4 seconds to play sent the game to overtime.

Utah pulls away

After a Drummond layup to begin the extra period, Utah knocked down three straight threes, including one by Donovan Mitchell, after he had a quiet second half. That turned out to be the difference, as the Pistons could not recover. Mitchell finished with 15 points on 21 shots.

Notes

After a third quarter put back dunk, Andre Drummond became the youngest player in NBA history to record 2,000 offensive rebounds. He finished the game with 30 points, 24 rebounds, 6 blocks, 4 assists, and 3 steals, showing why he was deserving of an All-Star selection.

After injuring his thumb on Sunday, Reggie Bullock was active but did not play. Stanley Johnson replaced him in the starting lineup. Also, in a more surprising move, Langston Galloway entered the starting lineup while Ish Smith returned to his familiar bench role.

Luke Kennard finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, the first double-double of his career.

The Pistons finished the game with 20 turnovers after having only 6 at halftime. Combining that with a 7-31 mark from three-point range makes it difficult to win games, and they could not overcome that.

Next: Should the Pistons regret not drafting Donovan Mitchell?

The Pistons return to action on Saturday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Tip-off is at 5 pm at Little Caesars Arena.