As a way to help you set your NBA-watching calendar, this space gets you ready for the best games that aren’t on ABC, ESPN, TNT or NBATV each week.
Monday 12/30
Pistons at Jazz
It’s probably a good bet that most people don’t realize the Detroit Pistons have been a top-10 offensive team for most of the season. This is despite missing Blake Griffin, Reggie Jackson and other contributors for large chunks of the year. Detroit is still banged up, but Griffin is back and teaming with Andre Drummond to give the team good minutes up front. The challenge has been the guards. The Pistons have had to mix and match in the backcourt all season long, and that’s led to some inconsistency especially on defense. That could be a problem against a Jazz team that is starting to show signs of rounding into form.
After a tough start, the Jazz are up to 10th in defense and 18th in offense and are continuing to climb. Mike Conley is back on the injured list with a strained hamstring, but that hasn’t seemed to hurt Utah at all. Bojan Bogdanovic has had an outstanding season, at 20.8 points per game on career-bests of 43.6% on 7.3 three point attempts. That, combined with Donovan Mitchell getting it going after a slow start, has the Utah offense humming. Every year the Jazz come on strong right around the holiday. With an 8-2 record over their last 10 games, it seems like things are right on schedule.
