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Red-hot Jazz welcome sinking Pistons

Mar 14, 2015 - 1:53 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Utah Jazz are a surprising 9-2 since the All-Star break and they'll try to improve that record Saturday night when the Detroit Pistons stop by EnergySolutions Arena.

The Jazz have won four in a row overall, three straight at home and have the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards left on this residency.

On Thursday, Utah extended its winning streak to four with a 109-91 demolition of the Houston Rockets.

Rudy Gobert had another monster outing to lead the Jazz. The big man, who grabbed a career-high 24 rebounds in a win at Memphis on March 3, contributed a career-high 19 points and 22 rebounds against the Rockets.

Gordon Hayward paced Utah with 29 points and Rodney Hood had a career-high 20 points.

Joe Ingles, Dante Exum and Derrick Favors each scored 10 points in the win.

"On the defensive end, we get stops and we get out in transition, that's a big plus for us as a team. When we knock down shots it's going to be hard to beat us," Hood said.

Hayward's free throws closed the half with under a second on the clock to give the hosts a 53-43 lead.

Ingles canned a 3-pointer with under 3 1/2 minutes left in the third that stretched Utah's margin to 22 and the Jazz cruised the rest of the way to extend its winning streak.

The Pistons have lost nine in a row and six straight on the road. Their four- game road trip ends on Saturday.

On Friday, Detroit offered little resistance in a 118-99 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Greg Monroe had 19 points, and Andre Drummond tallied 16 points and 17 rebounds for the Pistons. Jodie Meeks scored 14 off the bench, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope chipped in 12.

Reggie Jackson registered a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists. Caron Butler also scored 11 in the defeat.

"I thought we made offensive improvement today against a good defensive team," Detroit head coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I thought our pace was better. I thought our ball movement was better, but we couldn't find a way to stop them at all."

The Trail Blazers shot a blistering 57.5 percent from the field and a ridiculous 52.4 percent from long range.

The Jazz have won five of the last six matchups with the Pistons, who won in Salt Lake City last season to stem a 10-game losing streak as the visitor in this series. The Pistons previous victory in Utah, prior to last season, was Nov. 6, 2002.