Hornets at Jazz
The Charlotte Hornets have pulled out of their funk and are one win away from getting back to .500. The Hornets will try to reach the break-even mark and earn their fourth straight win when they visit the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.
Charlotte did the Jazz, who are trying to keep pace for the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference, a favor on Monday by outlasting the eighth-place Sacramento Kings 129-128 in double overtime. That victory came exactly one week after the Hornets won another double-overtime game, taking down Utah 124-119 at home behind a franchise-record 52 points from Kemba Walker. The Jazz have dropped three of four beginning with the loss in Charlotte and had a string of five straight games scoring in triple digits come to an end with a 95-92 loss to Detroit on Monday. “We put ourselves in a position to be in those situations where we didn’t play very good for the majority of the game, and at the end of the game we picked it up,” Utah coach Quin Snyder told reporters after a final chance came up short against Detroit. “We’ve been really good with our execution at the end of games and that’s something I think this team has done very well. We don’t always score.”
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Charlotte), ROOT (Utah)
ABOUT THE HORNETS (22-23): Walker is taking on a heavier load with Nicolas Batum and Jeremy Lamb dealing with toe injuries and is averaging 32.6 points over the last five games but seems to be running into defenses focusing specifically on him. Walker was a combined 12-of-50 from the field in the last two games and finished with 24 points in 45 minutes on Monday. The defensive focus on Walker allowed Troy Daniels to find some open space, and the reserve guard buried eight 3-pointers en route to a career-high 28 points against the Kings.
ABOUT THE JAZZ (19-25): Utah did not have power forward Derrick Favors in the last meeting due to a back injury but finally got the big man back from the 16-game absence on Monday. Favors contributed 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 20 minutes off the bench and will be worked back into the rotation slowly. “It feels great having Derrick back,” Jazz center Rudy Gobert told reporters. “He played great. It’s good. He’s going to be back even more next game and we’ll be back to our old ways.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Charlotte C Cody Zeller (shoulder) is expected to miss the game.
2. Utah G Rodney Hood is 12-of-21 from 3-point range in the last three contests.
3. The home team has taken each of the last four meetings.