Brandon Miller scored 18 points and LaMelo Ball added 17 as the Charlotte Hornets overwhelmed the Utah Jazz 150-95 on Saturday night, building a staggering 47-point lead in the first half of their most lopsided road win in franchise history.
The 55-point victory was the second-largest margin of triumph in Hornets history and a resounding response after back-to-back narrow losses to Toronto and Indiana. Charlotte had already shown its ceiling earlier this season with a 27-point win over Oklahoma City, but surpassed that mark in emphatic fashion against Utah.
Tre Mann led the Hornets with 20 points in just 12 minutes off the bench. Miles Bridges scored 15 points, and Collin Sexton added 15 in a game Charlotte led by as many as 57 in the second half.
Charlotte dominated from the opening tip, particularly from beyond the arc. The Hornets outscored Utah by 45 points from 3-point range in the first half, hitting 16 of 36 attempts while the Jazz made just 1 of 12. Ryan Kalkbrenner and Grant Williams both returned from injury, bolstering a lineup that never let Utah settle in.
Williams, playing his first game since November 2024 after recovering from right knee surgery, drilled consecutive 3-pointers to cap a 23-2 run that stretched the lead to 39-8. During that stretch, the Jazz went scoreless for more than five minutes as Charlotte rattled off 17 straight points.
The Hornets led 45-14 after the first quarter and pushed the margin to 77-30 on Bridges’ 3-pointer with 1:41 remaining in the half. Utah closed the half with eight straight points but trailed by 39 at the break.
Kalkbrenner finished with 12 points and nine rebounds after missing 10 games with a sprained left elbow. Brice Sensabaugh led the Jazz with 26 points as Utah rested leading scorer Lauri Markkanen and played without injured starting center Jusuf Nurkic.
The Hornets continue their road trip Monday at the Los Angeles Clippers, while the Jazz head to Cleveland to face the Cavaliers.
