On Saturday night, Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy was frustrated with his team. The defensive effort was not nearly at a standard that he would find acceptable. But, the scheduling gods had a gift — a back-to-back game on Monday night, a chance for redemption.
Well, I’ve got some bad news. The Jazz were pretty awful on Monday and the Detroit Pistons strolled easily to a 134-106 win.
The Jazz once again didn’t have a great defensive night, allowing 68 points in the paint and 38 fast-break points. They watched the Pistons win a game by 28 points despite shooting just 26.8% from deep (shoutout to Malik Beasley who went 3 of 14 from deep).
But, offensively, the Jazz were sloppy, committing 18 first-half turnovers and 28 turnovers overall, which the Pistons converted
“It’s really hard to win if we can’t take care of the ball,” Hardy said, exasperated. “Why did we turn the ball over? There’s a variety of things that go into that. The first one is we did not do a good job fighting for our space. The second one is we did not do a good job playing straight lines. The last one is we did not do a good job of passing the ball early. Again, when I look at 28 turnovers, but 16 of them are live ball, you put yourself in a really, really bad spot.”
The greatest offender on Sunday was Brice Sensabaugh who went 0 of 5 from the field, had no assists, and committed five turnovers. But that’s not to say he was the only one having an off night, because nearly across the board the Jazz players struggled.
Detroit Pistons forward Ausar Thompson (9) shoots as Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) guards him during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. Jazz lost 134-106. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Utah Jazz forward Kyle Filipowski (22) guards Detroit Pistons guard Dennis Schröder during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. Jazz lost 134-106. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley (5) dunks the ball in front of Utah Jazz guard Svi Mykhailiuk (19) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. Jazz lost 134-106. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Utah Jazz guard Jaden Springer tries to keep the ball away from Detroit Pistons forward Simone Fontecchio (19) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Danny Ainge, Utah Jazz CEO of basketball operations, watches the Utah Jazz play the Detroit Pistons in an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton (2) moves around Detroit Pistons forward Ronald Holland II (00) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Utah Jazz guard Svi Mykhailiuk (19) grabs the ball during an NBA game against the Detroit Pistons at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. Jazz lost 134-106. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Utah Jazz forward Brice Sensabaugh (28) tries to get the ball away from Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. Jazz lost 134-106. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Detroit Pistons forward Paul Reed (7) reaches past Utah Jazz forward Kyle Filipowski (22) for the ball during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. Jazz lost 134-106. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Detroit Pistons forward Paul Reed (7), Utah Jazz forward Cody Williams (5) and Utah Jazz guard Svi Mykhailiuk (19) fight for the ball during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. Jazz lost 134-106. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
The crowd lights up the Delta Center with their cell phone flashlights during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Detroit Pistons in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. Jazz lost 134-106. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Utah Jazz guard Jaden Springer shoots over Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (0) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley (5) tries to get the ball away from Utah Jazz forward Cody Williams (5) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Utah Hockey Club defenseman Sean Durzi laughs with his teammates as they watch the Utah Jazz play the Detroit Pistons in an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. Jazz lost 134-106. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy reacts as the Utah Jazz are losing to the Detroit Pistons in an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (0) blocks Utah Jazz forward Cody Williams’ shot during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Utah Jazz forward KJ Martin (99) looks to pass the ball to Utah Jazz forward Kyle Filipowski (22) as Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (0) guards him during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton (2) moves around Detroit Pistons forward Ronald Holland II (00) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 3, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
The lone bright spot was probably rookie Kyle Filipowski, who had a career-best 25 points while shooting 4 of 7 from deep. Even so, he committed four turnovers of his own.
The Jazz just finished a shockingly long home stand of nine straight games played at the Delta Center, and will now be on the road for a five-game trip. While playing at home gives players a sense of ease, comfort, and familiarity, it’s sometimes on the road when the most chemistry is built between players.
That’s not to say that anyone on the Jazz is expecting to come away from this roadtrip with a renewed identity, but the hope is that they can come together to at least put a better foot forward than they have the last couple of days.
And it’s not that the Jazz are even looking for wins, Hardy just wants to see the players, especially the younger players, take advantage of their opportunity and prove that they are deserving of more.
“We need to continue to tighten up the attention to detail, especially on the defensive side of the ball,” Hardy said. “But the the overall force that we do things with has to continue to go up. All the young players, everybody has to do 15-to-20% more in terms of the force that you’re trying to do everything with — that’s setting up to get a catch, that’s sprinting to screen, that’s changing ends of the floor. It’s things that anybody can do.”
