Charlotte Hornets at Utah Jazz Game Thread: We have Gordon Hayward, and you don't

Tonight the Utah Jazz put their five game win streak, and honor, on the line as they host the Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets are in the playoff race out East, but don't really have a much better record than the Jazz. They do have a bunch of Jazz players though, in Al Jefferson, Mo Williams, and Marvin Williams. Odds are in favor of some sort of revenge game, probably from the point guard spot, because, you know, #MOLO.

Season Stats:

Fan Base:

The Jazz have 933,410 fans on Facebook. The Hornets have 1,253,571. Here's the heat map in North America.

Wow, they have Manitoba on lock. I would guess that these are two small market teams, but build upon a solid defensive foundation.

Defense:

The Hornets give up only 96.9 ppg (6th best in the NBA), the Jazz 95.6 (2nd best). Utah has a DRTG of 105.9 (16th best in the NBA), and the Hornets have an even better one, 102.9 (8th). If you break down the defensive four factors the Hornets rank #7, #26, #1, and #8. NO team gets more defensive rebounds, and few put their opponents to the less. They don't cause a lot of turn overs, but that works out on the other end because offensively they are #1 in taking care of the ball. (They kinda suck at shooting and are horrible at getting offensive rebounds though, but that's offense.) The Jazz' defensive four factor NBA ranks are #13, #24, #9, and #9. Utah is less impressive on defense, but still really good. Where they are GREAT, though, is on the offensive glass, there they rank #10.

Rebounding:

This is where the game will be won or lost. The Jazz have an OREB% of 29.1, best in the NBA. The Hornets have a DREB% of 79.9, which is also best in the NBA. If Utah can get second shot opportunities they'll be able to better control the tempo of this game. So get read for some hot, exciting Al Jefferson, Marvin Williams, Cozy Zeller, Bismack Biyombo vs. Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert, Trevor Booker, and Jeremy Evans action.

Depth:

You gotta figure that the Hornets are deeper, after all one of either Kemba Walker or Mo Williams is coming off the bench, alongside Lance Stephenson. Right? The Jazz bench boasts the talents of Joe Ingles and Trey Burke. Not exactly the same level of talent or production.

Starters:

• Mo Williams * vs. Dante Exum
• Gerald Henderson vs. Rodney Hood
• Michael Kidd-Gilchrist vs. Gordon Hayward
• Marvin Williams vs. Derrick Favors
• Al Jefferson vs. Rudy Gobert

* This could easily be Kemba Walker, for all I know.

Injuries:

• Al Jefferson (CHA), was questionable but should play tonight
• Cody Zeller (CHA), is questionable
• Alec Burks (UTA), is out
• Ian Clark (UTA), assigned to the NBA-DL
• Grant Jerrett (UTA), assigned to the NBA-DL

I expect a slow game with lots of defense.

GO JAZZ GO!