**What:** Charlotte Hornets (13-25) (6-13 away) at Utah Jazz (13-24) (9-11 home)
**When:** 9:30pm Eastern
**Where:** Delta Center; Salt Lake City, UT
**How to watch:** FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass
**Outfitting:** Hornets–Association (white), Jazz-Icon (purple)
**Game Lines:** Hornets -4.5, Hornets money line -185, O/U 237.5
**Injuries:**
Hornets: Ryan Kalkbrenner-probable (elbow), Tidjane Salaün-probable (ankle), **Grant Willliams-probable (knee)**, Mason Plumlee-out (groin
Jazz: Jusuf Nurkic-questionable (toe), Ace Bailey-out (hip flexor), Lauri Markkanen-out (rest), Walker Kessler-out (shoulder), Georges Niang-out (toe)
Huge news on the injury report is the highlight of this game. Both Ryan Kalkbrenner and Grant Williams are back from injuries. Williams has been out for over a year since tearing his ACL. I don’t know how much he’ll play or how ready for action he’ll be, but on a personal level, it’s incredibly exciting to see him back on the floor after all this time off. He’s apparently gotten himself into great shape, and if and when he regains his form, he’ll be a huge boost to the Hornets big rotation. All the sudden, the Hornets start to look like they have some options.
[Per Cleaning the Glass](https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/team/4/onoff?season=2024#tab-team_efficiency), Grant Williams had the second best on/off rating on the team and was in the 97th percentile league wide. He’s a big “winning basketball” guy. Hopefully he’s able to find his form quickly.
On the Jazz side of the injury report, we unfortunately see Ace Bailey out with a hip flexor strain. He’s one of the more interesting rookies to keep up with given how frequently he was linked to the Hornets during the pre-draft process. He hadn’t quite found his footing by the first time these two teams played but had gotten more established in the rotation since. He hasn’t done anything too too special, but he’s had some nice moments.
Lauri Markkanen is probably the most restable player in the league as he’s very good but the Jazz are desperately trying to lose more games than they are for like the fourth season in a row. They’re like the worst tankers ever, except for last year. And look how that worked out for them.
The Hornets followed their best win of the season, if not the last several seasons, with two straight home losses in games they could have, or should have won. The second of the two losses was especially egregious, as it came against a Pacers team that’s now 2-0 against the Hornets and 5-31 against the rest of the league. It’s the latest in a series of examples of the Hornets struggling with teams that should be better than. On the season they’re 3-6 against the five teams below them in the standings.
The Jazz aren’t below the Hornets in the win/loss record, but their point differential suggests that their record is not a great representation of their quality as a team. They have the fifth worst point differential in the league, which actually puts them squarely within those same five teams that have a worse win/loss record than the Hornets (for reference, the Hornets are 19th in point differential). It’s a chance for the Hornets to prove they are actually better than some teams.
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