Jazz dodge Pistons' bullet

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The way things had been going lately for the Jazz, perhaps no one from Utah would have been shocked had Chauncey Billups' jumper at the buzzer fallen.

Jerry Sloan, for one, would not have been.

"He was squared up on the basket, had a good look at the basket," Sloan said of the Detroit Pistons point guard. "He might miss one once in a while — but ordinarily he doesn't."

This time, though, Billups' aim was off — and the sinking ship that Sloan's Jazz had become righted itself a bit, as Utah held on for a 100-99 win that reversed a four-game losing spiral.

In improving to 25-14, the Jazz regained both their balance — not only did point Deron Williams post a career-high 31 points in his first 30-point NBA game, but Mehmet Okur managed 22, Carlos Boozer had 20, Matt Harpring chipped in 10 off the bench and lost-lately Andrei Kirilenko rejoined the crew with another nine on 4-of-9 field shooting — and their direction.

"The bottom line? After four straight (losses)," ex-Piston Okur said, "we had to win."

"When you lose four games in a row," Sloan added, "people jump off that boat pretty quick, and they start going crazy. I can't afford to do that. I'm already that way."

Crazy as a fox, if anything shy of sane.

After losses to Dallas, Seattle, Miami and in the last second at Washington — three in which Utah played as hard as can be, one in which (against the Heat) it did anything but — Sloan pushed all the right buttons this time.

The Jazz coach intentionally got Kirilenko involved early on the offensive end and was rewarded with four steals and seven rebounds.

He didn't dissuade Williams, who has been struggling with his shot, from firing away when the timing was right in the context of Utah's offense. Net result: Williams made a super-efficient 12-of-17 from the field, including a much-needed 3-pointer in the final minute.

And Sloan went to a gimmicky defense just frequently enough to fluster the 21-16 Pistons, who are enduring all sorts of problems of their own these days — losses in four of their last five games, having to work Billups back into the lineup for the first time after he missed eight games with a calf injury, trying to integrate new acquisition Chris Webber (who had two points and made just 1-of-5 from the field) in his Pistons debut and, now, having to endure the indignity of four straight losses to Utah.