Jazz 94, Hornets 66
Rookie Rodney Hood hit all five of his 3-point attempts en route to a season-high 24 points in 22 minutes as Utah crushed visiting Charlotte.
Gordon Hayward added three 3-pointers and 18 points while Rudy Gobert grabbed 22 rebounds to go along with nine points for the Jazz, who extended their season-best winning streak to six straight. Dante Exum scored 11 points and contributed three 3-pointers as Utah matched its franchise record with 15 triples.
Lance Stephenson scored 17 points off the bench for the Hornets, who shot 29.5 percent from the field. Al Jefferson recorded 10 points and seven rebounds as Charlotte dropped a half-game behind Indiana, Boston and Miami tied for the seventh and eighth spots in the Eastern Conference.
Exum hit consecutive 3-pointers and Hayward added two more in a 12-2 burst that put the Jazz in front 18-10, and back-to-back 3-pointers from Hayward and Trey Burke extended it to 24-13. Elijah Millsap’s 3-pointer closing the first quarter made it 30-16 and Burke opened the second with another from beyond the arc.
Hood hit a pair of 3-pointers in a 14-0 run that made it 49-19, and Utah went 12-of-15 from beyond the arc in the first half en route to a 61-30 cushion at the break. Gobert’s free throw pushed the advantage to 81-37 with 3:31 left in the third and it was a 39-point gap heading to the fourth as the Jazz cruised.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Hood set a personal scoring high for the third time in the last four games. … The Hornets set a season low for points scored and failed to reach 70 for the second time in four games. … Gobert is averaging 21 rebounds in the last three games.