Game Preview: Hornets vs. Jazz 11/28/12

Just 26 days after the Jazz last visited the Hornets in the Crescent City on Nov. 2, Utah returns for a mid-week rematch with New Orleans. The Nov. 2 meeting in the Big Easy was a good news/bad news affair for the Hornets, who won 88-86 on a Greivis Vasquez driving layup with 1.3 seconds remaining, but lost Anthony Davis for the next two games due to a concussion he sustained in the second quarter. The Hornets went on to post an impressive 89-82 road victory the next night in Chicago, but played one of their worst games of the season on Nov. 7 vs. Philadelphia, a 77-62 defeat.

Utah had a chance to win at the buzzer in the Nov. 2 contest, but point guard Mo Williams’ off-balance, turnaround three-point attempt over Vasquez at the buzzer caromed off the back of the rim. The tight road loss was a bad early omen for the Jazz, who have struggled mightily away from Salt Lake City this season. Utah dropped six of its first eight road games, with its only victories during that stretch coming in triple overtime against Toronto and at winless Washington.

Wednesday’s game against the Jazz is the first contest of a five-game Hornets homestand. Following the Utah game, New Orleans will host Oklahoma City on Saturday; Milwaukee on Monday; the Lakers next Wednesday; and Memphis next Friday.

The Hornets and Jazz will face each other a total of four times this season, wrapping up their head-to-head affairs on Jan. 30 and April 5 in Utah’s EnergySolutions Arena.

Intriguing matchup: Point guard, Greivis Vasquez vs. Mo Williams
In addition to scoring the first game-winning basket of his NBA career vs. Utah on Nov. 2, Vasquez handed out 10 assists, to go with 13 points. In October, Vasquez set what seemed to be an extremely lofty goal of averaging 10 assists per game in 2012-13, but through the first three weeks of the season, he ranked third in the statistic, behind only Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul. Williams and Jazz backup point guard Randy Foye combined for 34 points vs. the Hornets in the previous matchup.