Hornets at Jazz
The Utah Jazz continue their pursuit of home-court advantage in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs when they host the Charlotte Hornets on Monday. The Jazz have won four contests in a row - including the first three of their four-game homestand - to move within two games of fourth-place Portland with six to play and owns the tiebreaker between the clubs.
Despite the surge, the Jazz are hoping to avoid becoming complacent as they forge through a stretch during which they play 11 straight sub.-500 teams. "For us, it's more about being able to maintain our focus and our urgency in those situations," Utah coach Quin Snyder told reporters after Friday's 128-124 win over Washington. "It's been something that this group - it's happened, it's happened enough times for us to recognize that it's something we've got to be aware of and deal with and do better." The Hornets have dropped the first two contests of their four-game road trip to sink three games behind eighth-place Miami in the Eastern Conference with six remaining. Sunday's 137-90 loss at Golden State was Charlotte's most lopsided defeat of the season.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Charlotte), AT&T SportsNet-Rocky Mountain (Utah)
ABOUT THE HORNETS (35-41): Charlotte received a total of 29 points from its five starters in the loss to the Warriors, including nine from star guard Kemba Walker. Willy Hernangomez was a bright spot with a season-high 22 points in 23 minutes off the bench for the Hornets, who have allowed an average of 133 points through the first two games of the road trip. A silver lining to the lopsided defeat is that it allowed for Walker (25 minutes) and other key rotation players to limit their time on the court for a team that is 2-7 when playing the second game of a back-to-back set on the road.
ABOUT THE JAZZ (46-30): Donovan Mitchell scored 35 points on 13-of-23 shooting in the win over the Wizards while Jae Crowder hit 4-of-5 3-pointers en route to 18 points off the bench. Joe Ingles notched his 10th career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Mitchell finished with 30 points, six rebounds and six assists in 34 minutes to lead Utah to a 119-111 win at Charlotte in the first meeting back in November.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Utah has won 11 straight meetings at home.
2. Charlotte is 3-10 on the road against the West.
3. The Jazz went 18-for-18 from the free-throw line in Friday's win.