After a demoralizing loss against the Boston Celtics, the Utah Jazz will look to claw out a win against the Charlotte Hornets.

They’ll have to do it without Bojan Bogdanovic and Danuel House again.

Even though the Jazz have missed Bogdanovic’s shooting, a team with Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, and Rudy Gobert should be able to get a win against the Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets still have the 9th best offense in the league while the Jazz still hold the #1 offense in the league. It makes for an interesting comparison between the two teams.

Obviously, the major difference with these two teams is Rudy Gobert. Gobert, and pretty much Gobert alone, is what makes the Jazz the #10 defense in the league. Without Gobert you could likely compare both of these teams in their ability to defend, and score too. Gobert also helps immensely on the offensive end in the pick and roll as well as with his offensive rebounding that clears up the misses. It’s that efficiency from Gobert that likely takes them into the #1 spot.

It’s been a rough east coast road trip for the Jazz as they’ve gone 1-2. Playing against the top teams in the east will do that, but it’s been a little disheartening to see the Jazz look not even competitive against the Celtics, and have zero answer for the Nets who were without Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons. A win tonight is important, because a loss might have this team in a complete tailspin.

The good news is that Donovan Mitchell continues his high-level play. Since coming back from injury, Mitchell is averaging 27.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.8 assists. He’s been in more control of the game than he ever has and looks to be ready for the playoffs. The question is, is anyone else on this team going to be ready and healthy?

The Odds

The Jazz are favored by 4 in this one, as they should be, but it’s been a long road trip and the team seemed completely out of sorts after the Boston loss. It was a long time before Quin Snyder apparently left the locker room. Will they have pulled themselves together for this one? If they have, they should be able to win this one handily. If they haven’t, a bad loss could be possible.

Game Info

When: 5:00 PM MT

Where: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC

TV: AT&T SportsNet-Rocky Mountain

Radio: 95.9/1280 The Zone, Utah Jazz App

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