Williams Lifts Jazz Over Pistons

Posted by admin on October 12, 2007

The Detroit Pistons planned to work on rebounding in the preseason.So far, it isn’t going too well.

For the second game in a row, the Pistons gave up more than 50 rebounds and lost. This time, the Utah Jazz beat the Pistons 100-85 in an exhibition game Friday night.

The Jazz outrebounded the Pistons 55-38.

“This is something we are going to have to continue to work on,” Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. “Their guards had 19 rebounds in the first half, which means our guards aren’t getting to the places we need to be.”

Without Chris Webber, the Pistons know that they will be vulnerable on the boards this year. Neither Rasheed Wallace nor Antonio McDyess are traditional post players, so Detroit will need contributions from Tayshaun Prince, Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton.

“Our two bigs are great jump shooters, but that means the rest of us have to help them out in the boards,” Billups said. “We didn’t do that tonight.”

Utah’s starters all had at least six rebounds and finished with a 35-20 advantage over Detroit’s top five.

“I think we played well,” Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. “Every game, we need to work like crazy.”

As expected in an early preseason game, both coaches went to the benches early and often. Jazz forward Paul Millsap was the only starter to play more than 25 minutes, and Jarvis Hayes led Detroit with 31 minutes.

“We played some of our reserves a lot of minutes, and those guys were really out of gas at the end,” Saunders said after his team was outscored 66-39 in the second half. “It was tough for them.”

The game did feel like a regular-season contest in one way - Wallace was ejected in the third quarter after picking up his second technical foul.

“I think both teams were frustrated by the number of fouls that were called,” Saunders said. “You couldn’t even work on getting to shape, because the game was so choppy.”

There were 59 fouls called in the game, an average of one every 49 seconds.

“There was no flow out there,” Billups said. “It’s a preseason game, so the refs are always working on something, and they have to blow their whistles, but it makes it tough on physical teams like us.”

Ronnie Brewer led Utah (1-1) with 18 points, while Millsap added 15 points and eight rebounds. Morris Almond, Utah’s first-round draft pick, had eight points in 24 minutes.

Hayes paced the Pistons (1-2) with 16 points, while Wallace finished with 12. First-round draft pick Rodney Stuckey had 11 points, giving him double figures in each of Detroit’s first three games.

The Pistons led 46-34 at halftime, but the Jazz dominated the third quarter with both sets of starters on the court. Utah began the period with an 18-7 run to pull within one, then took the lead for good late in the quarter.

Utah took a 69-64 lead into the fourth quarter, outscoring the Pistons 35-18 in the third, including 12 points from Deron Williams. The Jazz shot 63 percent from the field while Detroit hit 35 percent.

“That quarter is about as good as we’ve played,” Sloan said. “Those are the things we need to see and do.”

Utah played without Carlos Boozer, but he was in attendance after missing much of training camp due to his son’s illness.