The Charlotte Hornets visit Salt Lake City to face the Utah Jazz

Two of the NBA's worse teams will clash on Wednesday evening
Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images
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INJURY REPORT

Hornets: OUT - Moussa Diabate (G-League), Tre Mann (Disc), Grant Williams (R ACL)

Jazz: OUT - Jordan Clarkson (L Plantar), John Collins (L Hip), Taylor Hendricks (R Fibula), Johnny Juzang (R Hand), Lauri Markkanen (Low Back), Collin Sexton (Rest) QUESTIONABLE - Keyonte George (L Heel), Oscar Tshiebwe & Elijah Harkless (G-League)

Game Preview

Is there a chance the Charlotte Hornets still turn this season around? Should they even try to somehow sneak into the play-in at the risk of lowering their draft odds? There are discussions to be had about those questions, but one thing is for sure: If the Hornets do want to start a real upward trend, beating the Jazz is a must.

Not only is Utah at the very beginning of a rebuild, it's also going to be missing a ton of rotation pieces tonight. Instead of proven NBA players like Lauri Markkanen, John Collins and Collin Sexton, a bunch of rookies and sophomores will see big minutes for head coach Will Hardy.

Those continuous lineup inconsistencies, combined with the roster's general inexperience, are a big reason for the Jazz's lead-leading turnovers per game (18.0). The offensive struggles don't stop there, as Sexton and Co. rank in the bottom half of the league in both field goal and three-point percentage.

Despite those issues, the Jazz have managed to win a respectable three of seven games this month. Among those victories were a 136-100 thrashing of Miami and a 105-92 win over an admittedly injury-struck Orlando squad. The standout player recently has been second-year wing Brice Sensabaugh, who had 16 or more points in four of his last six games.

Meanwhile, the Hornets have only suited up for four contests (1-3) in total this month, due to their games in Los Angeles being postponed. During the minimal minutes they did get to play they looked mostly alright, especially when Charles Lee had his preferred starting lineup available.

The Hornets do continue to run into problems offensively, but the defense has picked up a lot of the slack. It's also helped tremendously that players like KJ Simpson and Taj Gibson aren't forced to play big minutes anymore. Seeing that Charlotte will be close to full health again tonight, a concentrated performance on defense and some scoring from Ball and Miller should be enough to get the win.

Key Matchup - Mark Williams vs Walker Kessler

Fans of the big men should get their money's worth in this one, as two of the more exciting young centers will battle under the rims. Kessler is a seven-foot shot-blocking machine that swats 2.5 attempts per night but has a very limited skillset on offense. The former Auburn Tigers' biggest strength on that end is his rebounding, which often leads to easy putbacks.

While Mark Williams can also send a shot away now and then, his work defensively mostly consists of crashing the boards. The Hornets' big hope at the five only returned from injury a few weeks ago, so going up against another future mainstay in the NBA should be a great test to see if he's fully back.

Projected Starting Lineups

Utah Jazz

Charlotte Hornets

Point Guard

Isaiah Collier

LaMelo Ball

Shooting Guard

Keyonte George

Brandon Miller

Small Forward

Cody Williams

Josh Green

Power Forward

Micah Potter

Miles Bridges

Center

Walker Kessler

Mark Williams

The Hornets head to Chicago next, where they will face the Bulls on Friday at 8pm.

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