NBA Matchups: March 25

Utah Jazz at Charlotte Hornets

Team Totals: Jazz 116.3, Hornets 112.3

Injury Report: Hassan Whiteside (Q, foot), Danuel House (O, knee), Udoka Azubuike (O, ankle), Bojan Bogdanovic (O, calf)

Jazz projected starters: Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Royce O’Neale, Eric Paschall, Rudy Gobert

Hornets projected starters: LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Miles Bridges, P.J. Washington, Mason Plumlee

Snyder quotes: Nada.

Borrego quotes: Mentioned the slow start affecting them, said he liked how LaMelo was aggressive in the loss.

Stats and Notes: 

*The Jazz continue to be a middle-of-the-pack defense, so the Hornets and their hot offense should be able to take advantage. The Jazz have still been great at taking away the paint with teams only getting 25.7% of their shots at the rim. However, teams are bombing 3-pointers on them. Charlotte has been bad at the rim and they give up 3-pointers. The right matchups could pay off.

*The potential loss of Hassan Whiteside is kind of big. If he is out, the Jazz would only have one true center to add some extra minutes to the power forwards, which adds a little more ceiling to the guards, as well. Plus, there would be a slightly higher minutes ceiling on Rudy Gobert as the Jazz try to move up to No. 3 in the Western Conference. Matchup-wise, it’s a pretty good one against Plumlee (Gobert crushed him earlier this year).

*It’s a solid matchup for Donovan Mitchell as he sees a lot of Terry Rozier. In his last four games, Mitchell’s usage has surged to a whopping 38.2, and the Hornets should push this pace up faster than the usual one for Utah. The usage boost is largely due to no Bojan, so he could get up to near 40 again here as the Jazz are just short on offensive options.

*The Jazz may also need Jordan Clarkson to fire up some shots, so he should be in play as a volume guy. Plus, as mentioned above, the guards could really see their minutes increase if no Whiteside.

*The Jazz are probably going to have to throw Mike Conley on LaMelo here. Borrego finally let Melo go with a 39-minute effort against the Knicks in the last one, which is the first time he’s cleared 36 minutes in a regulation game since Feb. 11. Borrego also playing Isaiah Thomas next to him a bit also helps his ceiling, and the Hornets will likely try to spread out the Jazz. It’s a sneaky strong spot for LaMelo.

*Terry Rozier would be my next choice here as he likely sees Donovan Mitchell on the other end. Mitchell is going to be gassed for his offensive output, and the Jazz have been subpar at limiting 3-point volume.

Washington Wizards (back end) at Detroit Pistons