Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert jumps over Detroit forward Kelly Olynyk and tries to put the ball into the basket in their game on January 21, 2022. Chris Nicoll, USA Today Sports/Reuters
Rudy Gobert scored a season-high 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while Bojan Bogdanovic logged 23 points as the Utah Jazz earned a 111-101 win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night in Salt Lake City.
Gobert was questionable to play earlier in the day because of ankle soreness, but the 3-time Defensive Player of the Year suited up and made 8-of-11 field-goal attempts while blocking 4 shots to help the Jazz pick up a much-needed win.
Utah, which again played without Donovan Mitchell (concussion protocol), had lost 2 straight games, 6 of 7 overall and 3 consecutive at home. That rough stretch included a 126-116 defeat at Detroit on January 10, when the Jazz blew a 22-point lead.
Jordan Clarkson and Mike Conley also helped fill the scoring void left by Mitchell's absence, providing 20 and 19 points, respectively.
Rookie Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 25 points and 5 assists. He also had 6 rebounds.
Former Jazz forward Trey Lyles scored 16 off the bench. Rodney McGruder had 15 and Saddiq Bey 13 as the Pistons dropped to 1-2 on their 4-game Western Conference road trip.
The Jazz led 27-26 after 1 quarter and were sparked by Gobert in the 2nd quarter to take a 60-52 lead into the break. Gobert had 13 of his 15 1st-half points in the second.
Detroit fought back in the 2nd half, using a 13-4 run out of the locker room to go ahead 65-64.
Utah regained the lead and built it to double digits at 85-75 thanks to an 11-1 run.
That advantage didn't last too long for the Jazz, though. The Pistons crept back to within 2 points after Lyles drained a 3-pointer to make it 91-89 Utah with 9:36 left in the game.
Josh Jackson made it a 1-point game by sinking a floater with 6:33 to go.
Gobert followed with a put-back bucket, a dunk and a free throw to spark a 9-2 run for a 104-96 lead with 4:19 remaining.