It’s only January, and neither the Utah Jazz nor the Charlotte Hornets are in a position to make a run at a playoff berth this season. Still, Wednesday’s matchup in Salt Lake City could have some implications for the two teams this spring.
While they likely won’t be in the mix for an NBA championship — most teams have more victories than their combined 18 wins, after all — the Jazz and Hornets are on course to have a lot on the line when the draft lottery takes place.
The Hornets (8-28) have the third-worst winning percentage in the NBA (.222) and were tied for the second-fewest wins entering Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Jazz became the 26th team (of 30) to reach the 10-win mark and hold the fifth-worst winning percentage (.263).
Charlotte enters Wednesday having lost 19 of its past 21 games, a rut that includes a 120-113 setback against host Phoenix on Sunday that came after the Hornets beat the Suns in Charlotte less than a week before. Phoenix rallied for the win on Sunday by scoring 19 of the game’s final 24 points.
That was supposed to be the third game of five on the Hornets’ Western Conference road trip, but matchups against the Lakers and Clippers were postponed due to the Los Angeles wildfires.
“This is going to be a great learning experience for us to just continue to get better,” Hornets coach Charles Lee said. “Especially with that group we had there at the end of the game.”
Center Mark Williams was a bright spot for the Hornets on Sunday. The 7-footer had a season-high 24 points to go along with 16 rebounds, four assists and one block. Impressively, he amassed 22 points and 13 boards before halftime, which only one other Charlotte player has done since 1996-97, and only two other NBA players (Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama) have accomplished that feat this season.
“I just wanted to come out, be aggressive obviously,” Williams said. “The first game (vs. Phoenix), we won by playing with pace. So, I just wanted to go out there and start with those things, and it showed for itself.”
The Jazz were also buoyed by the performance of a youngster on Sunday. Rookie Isaiah Collier made the game-winning layup late in overtime against the Brooklyn Nets while scoring a career-high 23 points to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists.
“Isaiah is a good basketball player,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “The stats reflect kind of the old-school term: ‘He had a good floor game.’ He just did. He did a lot of really good things. It wasn’t just some of the shots — he makes three threes, which is great.
“We haven’t seen that yet from (him) this year, but the plays downhill to the rim, getting out in transition, the pace he plays with, his burst. When there are a lot of new people, the point guards feel it probably more than anybody because they’re having to try to get people organized, and I thought (he) did a great job of handling himself.”
Collier had the sequence of the night, too, even if it was a bit scary. After blocking a 3-point attempt by Keon Johnson, he hauled in the ball and raced the other way for a breakaway dunk. Unfortunately, Johnson crashed into the airborne Collier from behind. Collier couldn’t hold on to the rim and awkwardly crashed to the court, giving everybody a fright.
“It hurt for a little bit,” Collier added. “But I’m good.”
–Field Level Media
