Tonight, the Utah Jazz will see if they can continue their winning ways, without much rest, as they challenge the Hornets in Charlotte on the second night of a back to back. The Jazz mostly looked sharp in a 21-point victory in Atlanta over the Hawks last night.

Luckily, the Jazz were able to give the core a bit of rest last night on the first leg of the back-to-back. Conley only played 22 minutes, Clarkson 25 Gobert, O’neal and Ingles 27, Bogdanovic 30, and Donovan Mitchell with a game high 32 minutes. Those extra minutes of rest should come in handy tonight.

The Hornets are no joke this year. They are in 1st place in the Southeast division, for whatever that’s worth these days, and sit at 6th place in the Eastern Conference playoff standings. They come into tonight’s game winning 3 of their last 4, including wins over the Heat, Bucks, and Pacers. They are a young, dangerous team with plenty of talent. The Jazz will need to be on point, vigilant on defense, if they want to fend off a young, hungry team like the Hornets.

Game Info

When: Friday, February 5th, 2021 • 6:00 PM MT

Where: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC

TV: AT&T SportsNet - Rocky Mountain

Radio: 97.5 FM | 1280 AM The Zone

What to watch for

Can the Jazz keep up their excellent play on the road this season? They are 8-3 away from Salt Lake City this season, a stark contrast from road woes in recent years. I’ve always thought that the Jazz were the perfect team to operate in the pandemic. The Jazz’ overall maturity as a team combined with the longevity of the core and the tight nit familial vibe make this a perfect season for the Jazz to take advantage of.

Will fatigue finally catch up with the Jazz? Playing on a back-to-back on an east coast road trip is never an easy task. As mentioned above, the Jazz were fortunate not to have to play the core players deep into the game. I think Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley will take advantage of their reduced usage last night and set the tone in tonight’s game.

Can the Utah Jazz keep on winning? I don’t think any of us expected the Jazz to be quite this good this early into the season. The Jazz, under Quin Snyder’s tutelage, have notoriously struggled early on in the season, before righting the ship and closing strong. If this season feels different, it’s because it is. The Jazz have opened the season on a tear, to the tune of first place in the entire league. It’s been a while since the Jazz could make that claim. Enjoy it folks, this season is turning out to be one hell of a ride.