Utah @ Charlotte preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 4, 2017 ) Charlotte 98, Utah 105

The Utah Jazz won their first road game in nearly a month at Washington on Wednesday while dipping deep into the rotation. The Jazz will try to make it back-to-back triumphs for the first time since bridging November and December with a six-game streak when they visit the Charlotte Hornets on Friday.

Utah was without its starting frontcourt of Derrick Favors (ankle) and Rudy Gobert (knee) in Washington but got season highs of 16 points and nine rebounds from center Ekpe Udoh -- making a rare start -- and 10 points from Royce O'Neale off the bench. "It's a group of guys who have a lot of character," Jazz coach Quin Snyder told reporters. "When you compete, sometimes you make good stuff happen. It doesn't always go your way, but it went our way tonight." The Hornets went 3-1 on a west coast road trip, including a win at Golden State, but could not take the momentum home and dropped a 115-111 decision to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday despite Kemba Walker going off for 41 points. Charlotte is just 2-8 in its last 10 home games to drop to 10-11 overall in its own building.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah), FS Southeast (Charlotte)

ABOUT THE JAZZ (17-24): Utah forced 23 turnovers against the Wizards and got a strong performance from point guard Ricky Rubio, who scored 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting while knocking down three 3-pointers. The 27-year-old Spaniard went 0-of-6 from the floor and finished with just four points in Sunday's 103-102 loss at Miami and is averaging 14 points on 45.1 percent shooting in wins but just 9.8 points on 35.5 percent in losses. Rubio had less help in the backcourt down the stretch on Wednesday after shooting guard Rodney Hood was ejected with two technical fouls for arguing with officials and slapped a fan's phone away on his way off the court, likely earning himself some discipline from the league.

ABOUT THE HORNETS (15-24): Rubio will have to expend some energy on the defensive end Friday chasing around Walker, who went 16-of-28 from the floor in Wednesday's setback. Walker's scoring is not translating into wins of late, with Charlotte dropping its last eight games in which Walker scored 20 or more points but winning four straight when he scored 19 or fewer. Walker could use some help from his starting backcourt partner Nicolas Batum, who is 4-of-18 from the floor in the last two games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Favors (ankle) was probable on Wednesday before being scratched late and is day-to-day.

2. Charlotte C Dwight Howard went 5-of-18 from the free-throw line on Wednesday and is shooting 53.3 percent from the stripe.

3. The home team took the last seven meetings.

PREDICTION: Hornets 108, Jazz 102