The Hornets host the Jazz in Oklahoma city this evening and this has got to be quick. The preview I mean. The game will probably be the usual 48 minutes. Straight into it…

• Utah are 39-19 on the season, 17-12 on the road. After struggling through a mediocre January (8-8), the Jazz have won ten of their last twelve, which is, like, really good. They've also won their last three road games. Also good. For them.
• The Jazz were in Minnesota on Friday, and came away with a 109-83 win. Matt Harpring's clutch layup with 36 seconds left didn't really matter much.
• There's always the Chris Paul / Deron Williams rivalry. John Rohde wrote something about it today. I haven't read it yet. I may do later.

  Williams will undoubtedly win the non-existent Sophomore of the Year trophy, as he's averaging 17.3 points and 9.3 assists on a winning team, while CP is at 17.4 and 8.6 on a team constantly in search of something resembling consistent goodness.

  By the way, Williams apparently has been bothered lately by a crotch groin strain. He played just 30 minutes on Friday, scoring 21 and dishing 8.
   

• The Jazz did of course have two All-Stars this year. One was (and still is) called Carlos Boozer. The other was called Mehmet Okur. He kept his name also.

  Boozer busts heads inside for about 21 and 12 each night, while Okur likes to take his 6-11 frame out beyond that big curved line and drop long bombs all game. He's at 18 points and 7 boards for the season.

• The game will be broadcast on the television channel known as ESPN. I'm guessing those letters stand for something.
• Despite that nice trio, the Jazz are all about sharing and caring. That's how they win a lot, apparently. Hard to believe they've got that record when Andrei Kirilenko is averaging just 9 points and 5 boards for the season.
• The Hornets done beat the Jazz back in January, 94-83 in OKC. We were sans CP (and Peja of course). They were without Kirilenko and lost Boozer to a knee injury in the first quarter. Deron Williams played the game of basketball very well that night. Refresh.
• Gordon Giricek appears to be getting laid a lot these days, and it's helping his game. I wonder if he got back with his old girlfriend from Idaho. I always hoped those two crazy kids could work thinks out.

  (Yeah, I said thinks.)

Tonight's game is absolutely massive for the Hornets. Even bigger than all the other big ones I said were big. You see a loss now would be oh-so bad ahead of that three-game road trip, which starts Tuesday in Denver and sees our guys make later stops in Phoenix and Utah. Winning even one of those three will be tough.

Also, the Hornets are still clinging to ninth place in the West despite losing two of three. Seems like they can't move from there no matter what happens this evening, but with the T-Wolves at Boston and the Warriors at Washington, things could get a lot more claustrophobic should the Jazz do the win thing.

Anyways, full standings here, knock yourself out. Tip tonight is at 7pm. Linkage, you're up…

• NBA.com's full-assed preview
• Jazz team stats
• Deseret Morning News
• Salt Lake Tribune | Blogs

Shit, that wasn't quick at all.