Jazz at Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets tied a franchise record with 75 first-half points in a 122-100 win over Indiana on Monday and are enjoying the best start in franchise history. There might not be another team in the NBA better at throttling a high-scoring offense than the Utah Jazz, who visit the Hornets on Wednesday.
Charlotte scored on its first 12 possessions and had eight players finish in double figures in the easy win, led by 24 points on 7-of-11 shooting (5-of-6 from 3-point range) and 10 assists from Kemba Walker. The star guard failed to reach 40 percent from the floor in the first two games of the season but is averaging 26.3 points on 35-of-63 shooting in the last four contests. Walker is capable of getting into the paint and finishing at the rim but will likely encounter more resistance from a Jazz frontcourt of Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert that combined to block six shots in Monday's 109-84 triumph at Philadelphia. Utah held opponents to 91 or fewer points in five of the first eight games and is 2-0 on its five-game eastern trip after knocking off the New York Knicks and the 76ers.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ROOT (Utah), FSN Southeast (Charlotte)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (5-3): Utah got leading scorer Gordon Hayward (broken finger) back to begin the trip, and the Butler product is displaying no rust despite sitting out the first six games. Hayward scored 28 points in 36 minutes in his debut on Sunday and showed off his all-around skills on Monday with 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists and a steal. Hayward was forced to lead the offense more on Monday due to the absence of point guard George Hill, who sat out with a sprained thumb after being named Western Conference Player of the Week earlier in the day and is listed as day-to-day.
ABOUT THE HORNETS (5-1): Charlotte relies on its defense to set up the offense and converted 18 Indiana turnovers into 35 points in Monday's win. The Hornets are among the league leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.11) while averaging the fewest turnovers in the league (11.7). A big reason for that is the steady play of guard Nicolas Batum, who was the only starter not to score in double figures on Monday but delivered four assists, three steals and one turnover in 30 minutes to keep the team surging on both ends.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Charlotte F Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (back soreness) left Monday's game and is day-to-day.
2. Utah G Rodney Hood is 15-of-27 from 3-point range in the last six games.
3. The teams split two meetings last season, with each winning on its own home floor.