After ending one long losing streak to a team that has owned them in recent seasons -- decades, really -- the Jazz will look to keep a different streak going when they play host to the Pistons on Saturday. The Jazz has beaten the Pistons eight consecutive times, sweeping the last four season series, even as Detroit was regularly advancing to the Eastern Conference final. The Jazz will be opening a six-game homestand, their longest of the season, and can ill afford any missteps after already losing at home to Houston and Sacramento earlier this month.
They also would like to build on the momentum from Thursday's breakthrough victory in San Antonio, where the Jazz had dropped 20 consecutive regular-season games to the Spurs, plus another three in the 2007 Western Conference final.
The Jazz had never won at AT&T Center, going 0-16 all-time counting the playoffs, and hadn't beaten the Spurs on the road since Feb. 28, 1999 in what was a Midwest Division game at the Alamodome.
After the Spurs erased a 10-point deficit to tie the game heading into the fourth quarter, the Jazz pulled away behind Carlos Boozer, who scored 10 of his 18 points in the final 3:58, including a pair of key three-point plays.
Although he was linked to Detroit as a possible free agent destination last summer, the Pistons opted to spend their free agent dollars on Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. Boozer will get the chance to make them pay Saturday.
JAZZ 90, SPURS 83: The Jazz enjoyed its first victory in San Antonio in more than 10 years, though the Spurs were without Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. The Jazz had four three-point plays in the fourth quarter, during which they outscored the Spurs 30-23.
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