The Roundup—Jazz 94, Hornets 66

Well, that was easy.

The Charlotte Hornets flew into Salt Lake City holding tight to the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot—and they left after being absolutely eviscerated at the hands of the Utah Jazz.

Final score—Jazz 94, Hornets 66

The win was Utah’s sixth in a row, and the Jazz are now 11-2 since the All-Star break.

The Jazz took a 61-30 lead into halftime and kept their collective feet on the pedal until the end of the third quarter, leading by as many as 44 points before coasting to the victory.

Rodney Hood led Utah with 24 points—in only 22 minutes—while Gordon Hayward added 18 points in 27 minutes.

Rudy Gobert scored nine points and grabbed 22 rebounds, and Danté Exum added 11 points—all in the first half.

Lance Stephenson came off the bench to score a team-high 17 points (mostly in garbage time) for the Hornets, while former Jazzman Al Jefferson (10 points) was the only other Charlotte player to score in double figures.

Hood was the definition of efficient, going 9-for-11 from the field (including 5-for-5 on threes) and 1-for-1 from the line. The rookie set a career high in scoring for the third time in his last four games.

The Jazz blitzed the Hornets early with a barrage of 3-pointers. After missing their first three, the Jazz made 11 straight—three each by Exum and Hayward, two each by Trey Burke and Hood, and one by Elijah Millsap—from deep. The result was a 43-19 Jazz lead just 15 minutes into the game.

10 minutes, 20 seconds. That’s how long Charlotte went without making a field goal between the first and second quarters. In all, the Jazz held the Hornets to 23-for-78 (29.5 percent) shooting. It was the ninth time in the last 10 games that the Jazz held their opponent to fewer than 90 points.

The Jazz set a new franchise record for 3-pointers in a quarter (eight in the first quarter) and in a half (12 in the first half), and also set a new season high for 3-pointers made in a game (15). In all, Utah went 15-for-24 from 3-point range.

Midway through the first quarter, Charlotte’s Michael Kidd-Gilchrist took the ball on a fast break and sprinted right at Hayward, who was backpedalling in the lane. Hayward stepped back to avoid the foul then rose up and swatted away the layup attempt. As a team, the Jazz blocked five shots.

Utah set a season high for points in a half with 61 in the first half. ...  Each Jazz player except for two (Trevor Booker and Bryce Cotton) scored at least two points. ...The Jazz grabbed a season-high 61 rebounds (to Charlotte’s 36). ... The Jazz are now 17-16 at home this season.

The Jazz will stay at home for a game Wednesday night against the Washington Wizards. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. MT and the game will be televised on ROOT SPORTS.