SALT LAKE CITY — Guard Reggie Jackson scored 29 points and forward Ersan Ilyasova added 16 points to help the Detroit Pistons hold off a late fourth-quarter rally and beat the Utah Jazz 95-92 Monday night.
Guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and forward Anthony Tolliver added 12 points apiece for the Pistons. Detroit (24-21) swept the season series with Utah and snapped a two-game losing streak.
Guard Rodney Hood scored 23 points and forward Gordon Hayward added 22 points to lead the Jazz (19-25). Center Rudy Gobert chipped in 17 points and 17 rebounds, and forward Derrick Favors scored 14 points for Utah, which lost for the third time in four games.
Hood gave Utah a chance to force overtime when he hit a 3-pointer with 5.9 seconds left to cut Detroit’s lead to 93-92. Jackson hit a pair of free throws, but Hayward missed a last second 3-pointer on the other end.
Utah came out completely flat on offense in the first quarter. The Jazz shot just 22.7 percent (5-for-22) from the field in the quarter and seemed out of sync from the opening tip.
Detroit took advantage of Utah’s sluggish start. The Pistons jumped in front when Ilyasova scored three baskets in the first five minutes, and then Jackson added three baskets to fuel a 13-3 run. Jackson capped off the surge with a running layup that gave Detroit a 20-10 lead.
The Pistons twice built up a 12-point lead early in the second quarter and led 31-19 after a dunk from forward Aron Baynes. Utah chipped away at the deficit and closed to within six after Hayward scored nine consecutive points for the Jazz. Hayward ended his personal run with a three-point play that trimmed Detroit’s lead to 38-32 with 3:34 left before halftime.
Utah faded on offense again as the second quarter wound down. The Jazz scored just two baskets over the final 3 1/2 minutes of the half, opening the door for the Pistons to rebuild a double-digit cushion. Baynes drilled a jumper to spark a 10-4 run that gave Detroit a 48-36 halftime lead.
Utah made another run at the Pistons in the third quarter. Gobert capped a 12-4 run with a dunk and a floater on back-to-back possessions to cut Detroit’s advantage to 54-48. The Pistons answered by running off seven unanswered points — culminating in a jumper from Jackson — to take a 61-48 lead.
The Jazz offense got a lift from Hood early in the fourth quarter. He scored four straight baskets — including three 3-pointers — to cut Detroit’s lead to 76-70. Forward Stanley Johnson and Tolliver each answered with 3-pointers to help the Pistons go up 84-72.
Utah cut the lead down once more with 15-4 run — punctuated by a Gobert jumper — to make it 88-87 with 2:01 left. Detroit ended the comeback when Caldwell-Pope hit a jumper and Jackson followed with a 3-pointer to push the margin back to 93-87.
NOTES: Jazz F Derrick Favors returned to the lineup after missing 16 straight games because of back spasms. Favors averaged 16.8 points and 8.6 rebounds in 26 games before the injury. … The Pistons lost 17 of their previous 20 meetings with Utah before Monday. Detroit last beat the Jazz in Salt Lake City on March 24, 2014, when it won 114-94. … Utah’s three highest scoring performances this season have come against Eastern Conference teams: Indiana (122 points), Charlotte (119), Cleveland (114). … Detroit ranks second among NBA teams in rebounds per game (47.6) and first in offensive rebounds per game (13.7). The Pistons are 2-11 when their opponent has equal or more rebounds.