NBA: Lauri Markkanen carries Jazz past Pistons
Lauri Markkanen #23 of the Utah Jazz drives around Saddiq Bey #41 of the Detroit Pistons during the second half at Little Caesars Arena on December 20, 2022 in Detroit, Michigan. Utah won the game 126-111. Gregory Shamus/Getty Images/AFP
Lauri Markkanen tied his career high with 38 points and the visiting Utah Jazz pulled away from the Detroit Pistons 126-111 on Tuesday night.
Markkanen made 13 of 20 field-goal attempts, including nine 3-pointers. Markkanen also had 38 points against Phoenix last month.
Article continues after this advertisementLauri Markkanen was MONEY from deep in the Jazz win.
🎯 38 PTS
🎯 9 3PM (career-high)
🎯 5 REB pic.twitter.com/02wgWyxdjL— NBA (@NBA) December 21, 2022
Jordan Clarkson had 21 points and six assists. Jarred Vanderbilt supplied 18 points, 13 rebounds and six assists and Malik Beasley tossed in 17 points off the bench.
Walker Kessler added 10 points and nine rebounds, while Mike Conley chipped in seven points and seven assists as Utah bounced back from a lopsided loss to Cleveland on Monday.
Article continues after this advertisementRookie Jaden Ivey scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Pistons, who have lost six of their last seven games. Jalen Duren had 15 points and 14 rebounds. Bojan Bogdanovic also scored 15 points, while Marvin Bagley III and Alec Burks chipped in 10 apiece.
30 PTS (career-high)
5 AST
4 REBA career night for Jaden Ivey. pic.twitter.com/UGIKGFtkFt
— NBA (@NBA) December 21, 2022
The Jazz held a 61-60 halftime lead. They led by as many as 13 in the early going but a 14-0 second-quarter run got the Pistons back in it.
Markkanen had 19 points by the break and Clarkson contributed 14. Ivey led the Pistons with 18 points and four assists.
The Jazz held a slim lead for much of the third quarter. Clarkson’s basket with 3:37 left in the quarter gave Utah an 85-78 lead.
Kessler’s putback a minute later made it 89-81.
The Jazz went on a 6-2 run in the final 1:47 of the quarter to increase the advantage to double digits at 95-85. Beasley had a pair of baskets during that span, while Conley had a layup and an assist.
Beasley also scored the first basket of the fourth quarter. Another bucket from Beasley increased the Jazz’s advantage to 13 points and his 3-pointer a minute later off Vanderbilt’s feed pushed their lead to 109-94.
A 10-2 Jazz spurt stretched the advantage to 21 points. Markkanen had five of those points, including a 3-pointer.
