By Stephen Nover
Jazz minus 8 hosting Pistons
The Jazz have won five of their last six with the lone loss coming to the Bucks. Utah is back playing tough defense giving up 95.6 points in its last three games. The Jazz are giving up the third-fewest points in the league. Donovan Mitchell is having a huge January.
The Jazz are a tough to play because of their physical defense especially in Utah where it is high altitude. This is made worse for the Pistons. They carry a high fatigue rating in action for the fourth time in six days – all on the road.
Detroit had lost to the struggling Lakers by 13 points and to the Kings by 10 points before upsetting the Clippers on Saturday. That was a big motivation game for the Pistons because it marked Blake Griffin facing his old team. Griffin, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson all logged more than 40 minutes in that contest.
The Pistons have sunk back to being a lottery type team following a good start losing 16 of the past 21 times. Detroit ranks 24th in scoring. The Pistons have failed to break the 100-point barrier in six of their last 16 games. They heavily rely on Griffin and Drummond. But the Jazz have the inside defensive stoppers in Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors to slow down those two.
(Editor’s note: Stephen Nover is having a super season in all his sports going a documented 25-4-2 on his last 31 premium/free NFL plays, 17-8 on his last 25 premium/free NBA plays, 39-21-2 on his past 62 premium/free NHL plays and 21-10 in college basketball with a seven-game win streak. If you are interested in Stephen’s sports service please email him at scriber26@gmail.com or message him via Twitter.)
