by Alma Bean
Feature Image by Megan Nielsen of Deseret News
The Utah Jazz (15-19) will take on the struggling Detroit Pistons (3-30) in the return of the City Edition jerseys.
What to Look For
After an impressive win over the Dallas Mavericks on New Year’s Day, Utah will be looking to take that momentum into tonight’s game. This game will be a battle from start to finish even with Detroit’s record. Including their previous matchup against Utah, Detroit has had a point differential of -7.3 PPG since December 21. Though the losses are starting to pile up for Detroit, they are not going down without a fight. Cade Cunningham will look to give Kris Dunn and Collin Sexton some problems with the starting unit being a Swiss Army knife this season averaging 23.0/4.0/7.3 this season. As long as Utah can hold Detroit to their season averages for both field goal attempts (88.2) and three-point attempts (29.8), Utah should be able to keep this game out of reach. Knowing previous Utah teams, they tend to play down to easier opponents, so expect a hard-fought match tonight.
Key of the Game
Smart passes. Utah proved that they could execute smart passes in a winning effort on Monday night. Reaching a season-high in team assists with 37 with the help of Jordan Clarkson, who got not only his first career triple double, but Utah’s first triple double since 2008. Detroit is known for interrupting passing lanes as they allow 25.8 assists per game but only force 11.7 turnovers per game. Though this game may look like an easy win, don’t sleep on Detroit making this a close contest.
Injury Report
Detroit – Monte Morris (quad) Out, Isaiah Stewart (toe) Out
Utah – Josh Christopher (G League) Out, Taylor Hendricks (G League) Questionable, Johnny Juzang (G League) Out, Micah Potter (G League) Out, Brice Sensabaugh (G League) Questionable
Where to Watch
Tip-off will be at 7:00 p.m. MST on KJZZ and Jazz+.
The Hive Sports 
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