Pistons vs. Jazz final score: Detroit fights back after slow start but comes up short

The Detroit Pistons again dug themselves a hole early in a game. This time, it came in the form of a 32-12 first-quarter deficit to the Utah Jazz. Unlike the comeback win against the Phoenix Suns, Detroit’s hole proved too much to overcome, resulting in a 96-86 loss.

Donovan Mitchell was locked in early and looked downright unstoppable at times. The frequent Pistons killer out of Louisville ended up with 28 points on 18 shots.

The largest resistance to Mitchell’s offense came in the third quarter when rookie Isaiah Stewart had to defend him in space. Stewart forced back-to-back misses which made Mitchell think twice when Stewart was switched onto him the rest of the quarter.

Stewart’s strong play earned him additional second-half minutes in the midst of a tightening game. Jahlil Okafor was the first big off the bench in the first half, but he was put back into storage after Stewart’s outstanding performance.

Jerami Grant continued his terrific start to the season, scoring 28 points while adding four rebounds and four assists.

The Pistons comeback attempt came up short this time around in large part because they just couldn’t get enough open shots to fall. That was particularly evident in Svi Mykhailiuk’s time on the court. Svi went 1-for-8 from deep and appeared devoid of any confidence.

With Derrick Rose out for the game, Frank Jackson was inserted into the rotation and the results were mixed. Jackson had a great first half where he displayed real facilitation skills, a common criticism of his. In the second half, he had a rough stretch where he made some poor decisions and saw the bench earlier than expected.

Stray Thoughts:

• Sekou played only five minutes. The coaching staff has to find more minutes for him, even if they don’t come at the four.
• Josh Jackson hasn’t looked the same since coming back from his ankle injury, though that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
• Dwane Casey has to find a way to get Blake Griffin and Delon Wright to stop stalling the offense.
• Detroit struggled a lot with Utah’s off-ball motion early in the game, but seemed to adjust well without simply relying on going to a zone.

What did everyone else think?