DETROIT — Donovan Mitchell scored 13 of his 28 points in a decisive first quarter, and the Utah Jazz held on for a 96-86 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.
The Pistons were coming off an overtime win over Phoenix on Friday night in which they rallied from a 23-point deficit, but they couldn't climb out of another big hole. Utah scored the game's first nine points and never trailed. The Jazz went on a 17-0 run later in the first, pushing their lead to 20 before the quarter was over.
Jerami Grant scored 28 points for the Pistons, who cut the deficit to six late in the third quarter. They had the ball down five late in the fourth, but Rudy Gobert blocked a shot by Mason Plumlee, and Mike Conley made two free throws to make it 93-86 with 1:00 remaining.
Conley finished with 22 points.
Utah improved to 3-2 on its seven-game road trip. The Jazz beat Milwaukee on Friday, making a franchise-record 25 3-pointers in the process. Their shooting took a turn for the worse in Detroit, where they went just 11 of 35 frm beyond the arc, but the Pistons were even worse at 10 of 42.
The Jazz will face the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Tuesday.
