Nets at Jazz
The Utah Jazz suffered a big letdown in their return from a three-game road trip on Wednesday and will try to avoid a third consecutive loss overall when they host the Brooklyn Nets on Friday. The Jazz dropped the finale of the trip at Oklahoma City 109-106 on Tuesday and could not get anything done offensively the next night in a 107-80 setback to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Utah is clinging to a half-game lead over the Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference and cannot afford a lengthy slide with three other teams in the running for the No. 4 slot and homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs. "We didn’t have a lot of energy and didn’t play well. It’s a disappointing game,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder told reporters of Wednesday's setback. “You have games like this. Hopefully they’re few and far between and near to never." The Nets were singing a different tune on Wednesday after snapping a 16-game losing streak and finally reaching double figures in wins with a 109-100 triumph at Sacramento. Center Brook Lopez went over 10,000 points for his career in the win.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), ROOT (Utah)
ABOUT THE NETS (10-49): Lopez is doing his best to pull Brooklyn out of the basement and frequently blames himself when the team loses, especially after a nine-point effort on 3-of-13 shooting at Golden State on Saturday. But Lopez led the way with 24 points on 9-of-17 and added eight rebounds in Wednesday's win, which was the team's second in the last 29 contests. Lopez is getting a boost from point guard Jeremy Lin, who is back in the lineup after a lengthy absence due to a hamstring injury and scored 17 points in 20 minutes on Wednesday.
ABOUT THE JAZZ (37-24): All-Star small forward Gordon Hayward averaged 29.5 points in the first two games out of the break - both wins - but failed to reach 20 points in either of the last two contests. He managed 13 points on 6-of-15 shooting in Wednesday's setback and took all of the blame. "It’s definitely on me for this one," Hayward told reporters. "I didn’t bring it tonight. I didn't have our guys ready to play. That’s a bad game. There’s going to be games like this throughout the NBA schedule. You can’t get too down on it. It's very frustrating, for sure. You want to play well every night, but it’s not going to happen."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Jazz SG Rodney Hood (knee) sat out Wednesday and is day-to-day.
2. Nets SG Sean Kilpatrick is 2-of-15 from 3-point range over the last four games.
3. Utah took four of the last five in the series, including a 101-89 win at Brooklyn on Jan. 2.