The Charlotte Hornets visit the shorthanded Utah Jazz to close out Saturday's NBA slate.
The pregame narrative: Utah's leading scorer, Lauri Markkanen, is out tonight with a scheduled rest day. On the other side, Charlotte gets back rookie centre Ryan Kalkbrenner, who has missed the last 10 games with an elbow injury. The Hornets are 4.5-point favourites as of noon E.T.
Check out my Hornets vs. Jazz SGP predictions for Jan. 10, featuring Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller.
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Hornets vs. Jazz predictions
Parlay: Hornets moneyline | Knueppel 4+ threes | Miller 4+ rebounds (+310)
Hornets moneyline (-180): I think there is serious blowout potential tonight.
Charlotte is turning a corner, with an exciting young core and a competent head coach. The Hornets are 4-6 in their 10 games, but those losses came by an average of 4.6 points.
They are playing teams tough night in and night out, and the same can't be said about Utah.
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The Jazz are 1-5 in their last six games, losing three of those contests by double digits.
Without Markkanen and Ace Bailey (hip), I can't see Utah scoring enough points to keep this one close. Jusuf Nurkic (toe) is also questionable, and his absence would lead to a massive size mismatch in the paint for Kalkbrenner.
The Hornets beat the Jazz by 23 points in Charlotte earlier this year with Nurkic, Bailey and Markkanen playing.
NBA SGP legs
Knueppel 4+ threes (-103): Cooper Flagg has pulled ahead in the Rookie of the Year race, but Knueppel is still within shouting distance of his Duke Blue Devils teammate.
The sharpshooting guard has been lights out from beyond the arc this year:
- The rookie is averaging 3.6 threes on 8.4 attempts a night.
- That 42.7% three-point rate is the third-highest of any player taking 7.0+ threes per game.
-> Back Rookie of the Year candidate Kon Knueppel on Saturday
Knueppel has gone under this mark in four of his last five, but that doesn't worry me. He still shot 39.5% from deep in that span, and hit four-plus 3s in six straight games before that.
Utah has the fourth-worst 3-point defence in the NBA (37.2%).
Miller 4+ rebounds (-245): Finally, I want to back Miller on the glass.
The third-year forward is averaging 4.2 rebounds per game and has reached this milestone in four straight games.
Utah is lacking size across the board and has struggled to hold opposing rebounders in check lately. It ranks 19th in rebounding rate over the last 10 games.
The Jazz will be even worse off if Nurkic, who averages 9.8 rebounds, misses a second straight game.
Miller isn't a giant by NBA standards, but is big enough at 6-foot-7 to capitalize on a mismatch.
Hornets vs. Jazz SGP made at 3:45 p.m. ET on Jan. 10, 2026.
