The Utah Jazz (20 - 25) defeated the Charlotte Hornets (22 - 24) 102 - 73 at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Wednesday. The Hornets fell behind early in the contest and were not able to cut into the lead after the Jazz went up by 12 point before the half. Charlotte was banged up heading into the matchup, but the return of Nicolas Batum (toe), who missed three consecutive games, was a bright spot. Jeremy Lin (ankle) exited the game after logging 17 minutes with a right ankle sprain, but the severity of the injury is unknown until further evaluation. Lin scored four points and grabbed two rebounds before exiting. Batum was strong on the defensive glass, as shown by his 10 rebounds, to go along with six points in just under 30 minutes in his return to the starting lineup. Kemba Walker shot efficiently from the floor, but the volume of shots was not available to keep the Hornets in contention, as he finished with 15 points on 7 - of - 11 shooting, in addition to five rebounds and one assist. The Hornets will visit the Portland Trail Blazers (21 - 26) on Friday. Utah overpowered their opponent in the second quarter and did not look after building a 12 point lead into a 20 - plus lead by the end of the third quarter. The team stats went in favor of the Jazz, specifically the rebounding battle, which they won 45 - 35, and scoring points off turnovers, which Charlotte coughed up 20, as compared to Utah’s 10 total. Rodney Hood and Gordon Hayward poured in 24 and 22 points, respectively, and combined for 11 rebounds and nine assists. Derrick Favors came off the bench in his second game back from injury and logged an equal 20 minutes to his performance on Monday. The Jazz were in need of Favors to return to health, which helps stretch the depth of their squad. Favors finished with 12 points, three rebounds and two assists on 6 - of - 9 shooting. Rudy Gobert was too much for Charlotte to handle on the defensive end of the floor, where he totalled 12 rebounds and three blocks in the contest. The Jazz will host the Minnesota Timberwolves (14 - 33) on Friday.
["TeamStat(G,'Jazz') has 25 Number of team assists ,has 102 Losses ,has 45 Total points ,has 10 Points in 3rd quarter ,has 20 Rebounds ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Hornets') has 10 Number of team assists ,has 24 Losses ,has 73 Total points ,has 20 Points in 3rd quarter ,has 35 Rebounds ,has 22 Turnovers ."]