Salt Lake City — The Pistons played one of their best defensive first halves of the season.
Then came the third quarter.
The Pistons’ weakness for most of the season came through to bite them again, as they had a halftime lead but gave up a 16-2 run in the first six minutes after halftime and trailed the rest of the way.
The Utah Jazz took advantage of the spurt and used Donovan Mitchell’s 23 points to stroll to a 104-81 victory on Monday night at Vivint Smart Home Arena. It’s the second straight loss on the six-game western trip and seventh in the last eight games overall for the Pistons (12-22).