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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Quin Snyder couldn't have asked for a much better start to a four-game road trip. The Utah Jazz coach saw his team play stellar defense most of the way while keeping the ball moving on offense. That resulted in a convincing 97-83 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night at The Palace.
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"We talked about just trying to defend throughout this trip," Snyder said. "We're a little banged up, so we're going to need our bench throughout this trip. It's a good start for us but going on the road to the East Coast or the Midwest is just hard."
The Jazz made it look easy on Wednesday, holding the Pistons to 34.1 percent shooting in the first half while jumping to a 19-point halftime lead.
"That's as sound and as solid as we've been defensively in awhile in the first half," Snyder said.
Their best players performed at a high level. Forward Gordon Hayward piled up 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Center Rudy Gobert also filled up the stat sheet with 12 points, nine rebounds, a career high-tying five assists and four blocks.
Gobert threw a between-the-legs pass to Hayward in the early going for one of those assists.
"I don't work on it but I think we've got good chemistry," Gobert said. "I know Gordon's going to get the ball."
George Hill supplied 17 points for the Jazz (43-25), who have won six of their last seven games. Joe Johnson and Joe Ingles also tossed in 12 points apiece.
Utah was credited with 28 assists on 36 field goals with six players dishing out at least three.
"It makes us hard to guard," Johnson said. "We've got a lot of guys who can score and penetrate and make plays for one another. It makes the game easier for us and defensively for our opponent, it definitely makes it harder."
The only downer for the Jazz was an injury to starting shooting guard Rodney Hood. He sat out the second half with right knee soreness.
Ish Smith's 16 points led the Pistons (33-35), who were coming off a 32-point loss at Cleveland on Tuesday. Aron Baynes posted 12 points and 12 rebounds and Tobias Harris chipped in 12 points.
Baynes recorded his first double-double since Jan. 23 last season against Denver.
"We didn't bring anything," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I'm not jumping all over our guys (but) we've been so up and down. So every time you think you are starting to play better, that's why I tell you guys when you ask, 'Do you think you've turned a corner? (Heck) no.'"
The Pistons fell behind by 15 in the first quarter and never recovered.
"What we need to do is come out and start better," forward Marcus Morris said. "For myself, I need to shoot the ball better. ... For a team that is fighting for what we are fighting for (a playoff spot), our energy level, our excitement level, just doesn't seem like it's there."
The Jazz finished the first half on a 13-2 run and grabbed a 54-35 halftime lead. Utah shot 51.3 percent from the field and made half of its 16 3-point tries.
The Pistons' offensive futility included back-to-back shot-clock violations late in the first quarter. Their seven first-half turnovers resulted in 16 Utah points.
Utah nudged the lead to 23 points at 72-49 late in the third with an Alec Burks jumper. The Pistons then finished the quarter with a 13-5 spurt to make it 77-62 heading into the fourth.
Boban Marjanovic's layup with 6:32 left cut Detroit's deficit to single digits at 82-73. The Pistons' rally stalled at that point. Ingles' 3-pointer with 2:56 remaining gave Utah a 92-78 advantage and ended any remaining suspense.
NOTES: Detroit C Andre Drummond needs six points to reach 5,000 for his career. He was held to six by the Jazz. ... The Pistons won 13 of their last 16 home games prior to Wednesday. ... Jazz PF Derrick Favors missed his fourth consecutive game with a left knee bone contusion. ... Utah has now won nine of its last 11 games at The Palace. ... Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy believes the Jazz have been overlooked. "They've flown under the radar all year," he said. "It's a really good team." ... Utah SF Joe Johnson played the 1,207th game of his career, tying him with Shaquille O'Neal for 35th on the NBA's all-time list. ... Utah's lineup was the 20th different one that coach Quin Snyder has employed this season.
