The Charlotte Hornets will visit the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Monday evening.

Charlotte (35-41) seemed to be surging late in the season after winning four straight games before kicking off their West Coast trip. The Hornets' current trip has been a difficult one, though, as the team has lost both games by a considerable margin. On Sunday, Charlotte took a season-worst 47-point loss to the Warriors at Oracle Arena. No Charlotte starter scored more than nine points in the win. Willy Hernangomez provided a lone bright spot, scoring 22 points off the bench. The Hornets will likely need to play perfect basketball to close out the season if they hope to remain in playoff contention. They currently sit at tenth in the Eastern Conference and trail the eighth-place Miami Heat by three games.

Utah (46-30) will not make it easy for Charlotte to bounce back, though. The Jazz are the league's hottest team, having won nine out of ten games heading into Monday's matchup. The Jazz most recently took down the Wizards, 128-124, on Friday. While it wasn't the type of lockdown defensive performance that has become a hallmark of Quin Snyder's teams, Utah scored at an impressive clip in the win. Donovan Mitchell led the way, pouring in 35 points to snap a streak of mediocre sub-20 point nights. The Jazz are fifth in the Western Conference and trail the fourth-place Portland Trail Blazers by two games.


Utah won the first meeting between the two teams, 119-111, in November. Mitchell scored 30 points to lead all scorers in that win.