Jazz Survive Pistons Despite Late Surge

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz held off a late surge from the Detroit Pistons to win 117-105.

Donovan Mitchell snapped out of his one-game return-to-play funk and led all scorers with 32 points on 10-17 shooting, including 4-7 from three to help the team get back on a winning track.

Meanwhile, Bojan Bogdanovic and Mike Conley combined for 38 points and six made threes as the Jazz once again climbed atop the Western Conference with the best record in the NBA at 16-5.

The @utahjazz backcourt had things rolling early and the Jazz held on for a 12-point win.#TakeNote #DETatUTAhttps://t.co/pJAgOjM2Xk

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 3, 2021

Quin Snyder Celebrates Adversity

There are a lot of unique traits about Quin Snyder that fans have glommed onto, from his well-quaffed hair to his occasional frightening death stare, and of course his knack for winning basketball games.

But one thing that has one under the radar is Snyder’s glutton for punishment, as long as his team is winning games.

Often when the Jazz win an ugly game that fans might otherwise find distasteful, Snyder celebrates like clockwork. That was the case again tonight after the Jazz let a 28 point lead slip to just four before closing the game with a 12 point victory.

Quin Snyder is kind of unique in he tends to really celebrate these types of games from his team.

He mentioned it after the last Pistons win when the Jazz blew a big lead, also.

He's a fan of adversity for his team, more so when they win.

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) February 3, 2021

“I think sometimes the expectation is that if you’re up a lot, you win by a lot,” Snyder said. “If you follow NBA games, sometimes being up 20 is hard.”

Snyder celebrated the Jazz last win over the Pistons that followed a similar storyline. The Jazz led by as much as 20 early in the game, but Detroit trimmed the lead to just five in the fourth quarter before the Jazz ended up winning 96-86.

“That’s a really good win,” Snyder said after the Jazz January 10 victory. “And wins are tough to come by in this league.”

Snyder said the same thing in November of 2019 when the New Orleans Pelicans cut into a 20 point half time lead before the Jazz eeked out an eight point win, dubbing the game “a great win.”

If Snyder were injected with Sodium Pentothal and forced to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, he’d likely prefer to see his team win by 20 points each and every outing.

However, he’s not one to frown upon most any victory, even the ones the Jazz seem to make more difficult than they need to.

After blowing out the Dallas Mavericks for the second consecutive game last week, Snyder discussed the value of playing in games with large score discrepancies.

“The biggest thing is it’s given us an opportunity to figure out how to play with the lead,” Snyder said. “Teams do go on runs, and to be able to respond to those things and to figure out what we need to do or not do to allow that to happen.”

The Jazz hadn’t led a big lead slip since their loss to the New York Knicks on January 6, but instead of folding, they found a way to win, just how Snyder likes it.

Jazz Are Better When They Run

After the game, Snyder and several Jazz players discussed the importance of running when the offense gets stagnant.

The Jazz were able to move the ball with ease in the first half building the 28 point lead, but as Detroit likes to do, they ground the game to a halt and the Jazz struggled to respond.

“It’s a little counterintuitive when the game gets tight sometimes you want to try to manage the game,” Snyder said. “And we need to continue to try to run and play.”

how do you say "closer" in Croatian? pic.twitter.com/uivRHlQG7j

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) February 3, 2021

After a 69 point first half, the Jazz managed just a 48 point second half allowing the Pistons to climb back in the game.

In his postgame comments, Mitchell credited the team’s pace late in the game with generating two open three-point looks for Bogdanovic to seal the win.

“The willingness to run which creates not only the passing lanes but you know the driving lanes and the reason we get our threes,” Mitchell said.

Bogdanovic shared similar sentiments.

“We start to isolate on some people and then try to attack them, but that’s how they got back in the game,” Bogdanovic said. “So I think that we should play fast and run.”

just a bucket-getter#NBAAllStar | @jordanclarksons pic.twitter.com/8yosUnPYJI

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) February 3, 2021

It seems likes an obvious solution to the Jazz problems, but it’s traditionally easier to slow a game down than to speed it up. It’s particularly true in the postseason when teams rely more heavily on their isolation scorers and less on the team-oriented concept that wins in the regular season.

The Jazz have proven they can be one of the top offensive and defensive teams in the NBA this season, but proving they can continue to operate at this pace in the postseason will remain unknown until May.

If the Jazz can continue to run the floor, they might be championship contenders. If not, they could be in for a disappointing finish the year.

Jazz Have Won 10 Straight Vs. Pistons

With Tuesday’s victory, the Jazz have now won 10 straight games against the Pistons stretching back to 2017.

In some ways, it’s easier to beat a team 10 times in a row when you only face them twice per season as two teams can’t truly get familiar with one another and make adjustments to stem these long win streaks.

On the other hand, without facing a team more than twice in a season, the dominance can’t be bolstered by a four-game sweep in the regular season or playoffs, meaning the winning streak has to stretch over several incarnations of the two franchises.

That is the case for the Jazz and Pistons during their last 10 games.

The Jazz have now beat the Pistons 10 times in a row.

Hard to do, especially when you only see a team twice a year.

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) February 3, 2021

The streak started on January 13, 2017, when the Jazz were led by Rodney Hood who scored 27 points in the 110-77 blowout win. The Pistons were led by Tobias Harris who had just 13 points in a dreadful performance that saw Detroit shoot just 39 percent from the floor.

Since the Jazz first win in the streak, the team has traded for Ricky Rubio, lost Gordan Hayward to free agency, drafted Donovan Mitchell, traded Hood, traded Derrick Favors, traded for Mike Conley, signed Bojan Bogdanovic, and traded for Favors without losing a game.

Pistons meanwhile have traded Harris for Blake Griffin, waived Reggie Jackson, traded Andre Drummond, drafted Luke Kennard, traded Luke Kennard, fired Stan Van Gundy, and hired Dwane Casey without a win.

That’s a lot of turnover without accidentally stumbling upon a victory against the Jazz, especially considering the Jazz have a three-point overtime win, a win by five points, and two wins by six points during the stretch.

Somewhat bizarrely, the Jazz have always had the Pistons number. Despite Detroit being one of just a handful of teams that have won multiple NBA titles in the last 35 years, the Jazz are 67-35 all-time against the Pistons.

The Jazz have win streaks of nine games and 11 games since 1996 against Detroit, and even beat the Pistons during the 2004 season when they won their last championship.

Jazz fans can certainly look around the league and recognize the teams they traditionally struggle with (Lakers, Thunder, Celtics), but they’ve usually had the Pistons number and that continued on Tuesday.

The Jazz have Wednesday off before embarking on a three-game road trip across the east coast.