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CHARLOTTE — Ahead of Saturday's game, Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said his team "doesn't have any room for error."
The Hornets had an entire half's worth against the Jazz, as Utah rolled to a 134-122 win at the Spectrum Center.
Utah's first half was one for the record books.
The Jazz scored the third-most points in a quarter in franchise history (47 in the first — Collin Sexton missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have given the team its first-ever 50-point quarter) and the most they've ever scored in a half (82).
They had 25 assists, shot 65% from the field and 59% from 3-point range.
The ease with which Utah shredded Charlotte's defense was laughable. Literally. The team even elicited some grins as the ball shot around the court during possessions.
Lauri Markkanen had 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting in the first half and didn't have so much as a hand in his face for most of his shots. Sexton added 19 points and eight assists before halftime to help Utah build a 35-point lead.
And holding a team to 47 points isn't too bad either.
So was that the best half of the season?
"I don't envision us playing better than that," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "That was kind of an ideal 24 minutes for us offensively."
He pointed to the entire team having a hand in the onslaught. Yes, Markkanen and Sexton got the bulk of the stats, but everyone contributed to the near-flawless opening half. Six players had at least two assists through the first two quarters.
"We kept them under 50, we scored 82 — it's up there," said Markkanen when asked if that's the best half the team has played this season. "Again, defensively there's stuff that we can improve on, but I think just maybe it feels good to make those shots."
While the Jazz were scorching hot in the first — the team hit 13 3-pointers — Hardy credited the quality of the looks. If you watch most NBA players during pregame warmups, you won't see very many misses. Utah was regularly getting those types of looks
"We made a lot of shots, but I thought the quality of the shots was pretty exceptional because the ball was moving the way that it was," Hardy said. "That's what we're chasing — can we generate that good of looks for our team?"
And it wasn't the biggest surprise that the historic first half came against the Charlotte Hornets.
The Hornets had just lost by 34 points the night before to Houston, and have the worst net rating in the league. Yes, even the Detroit Pistons — a team that lost 28 games in a row earlier this season and has just five wins — are statistically better than this Charlotte team.
But while the Jazz got those in the first half … things dried in the second.
The Jazz couldn't continue the same level of dominance in the second half. The Hornets even got the lead down to 13 in the early minutes of the fourth quarter, and to as little as 7 in the game's final minute behind P.J. Washington's 43-point night. But things never really got into the danger zone for Utah.
Markkanen finished with 33 points and 12 rebounds in the win. Utah moved back over .500 at 24-23 and is now 2-2 on its current six-game road trip.
"We're not as good as the first half and not as bad as the second half," Hardy said. "I think if we came in tonight and said we would come in and win by 12 on the road, we would have taken it."
Taken it, yes, but Sexton would have liked that final first quarter 3-pointer back.
"We had 47 in the quarter, right? Should have hit the 3!" Sexton said.
