SALT LAKE CITY -- The Charlotte Hornets' ability to stretch the floor wreaked havoc on Utah's defensive rotations for the better part of three quarters. The Hornets proved adept at creating enough space to open up the perimeter for their shooters.

An onslaught of 3-pointers riddled the Jazz defense for large chunks of the game. Then Utah finally took the sting out of Charlotte's offense in the fourth quarter.

The Hornets scored just six points over the final 8 1/2 minutes and it opened the door for the Jazz to rally from a double-digit deficit and claim a 105-98 victory on Saturday night.

"We got stops," Utah forward Gordon Hayward said. "We were able to attack against a defense that wasn't set. We finally hit some open threes that we were missing earlier, but I think it all started defensively for us."

Hayward helped make those stops count. He scored a season-high 33 points to lead the Jazz. George Hill added 25 points and Joe Johnson chipped in 18 off the bench.

While the Hornets went cold in the final minutes, Utah had no such trouble. The Jazz shot 10 of 18 from the field in the fourth quarter. It helped Utah (32-19) win its second straight at home.

Defensive communication improved for the Jazz after a shaky third quarter where they allowed a season-high 38 points. They figured out what they were doing on switches and had a better grasp of when to stay home on guys and let Rudy Gobert contest shots in the paint.

It added up to a formula for both defensive and offensive success for Utah and recipe for offensive oblivion for Charlotte.

"I feel like we played good defense on a few of those possessions, but we started missing shots," Hornets forward Marvin Williams said. "I felt like some of those shots we were missing, we were making earlier in the game. It's one of those tough combinations, especially to happen to us in the fourth quarter."

Kemba Walker scored 18 points and dished out six assists and Williams added 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Hornets. Charlotte (23-28) lost its seventh straight game.

Walker (7,448 points) passed Gerald Wallace for second place on the Hornets' all-time scoring list.

Trailing 92-82 in the fourth quarter, Utah overtook Charlotte on a game-ending 23-6 run. Hill tied the game on a corner 3-pointer and Johnson made a floater in the lane for the go-ahead basket. Johnson added the final nail in the coffin by draining his fourth 3-pointer of the night to put Utah up 103-96 with 59.0 seconds left.

Johnson saw extensive time at the four for the Jazz and it helped create some defensive mismatches for the Hornets to deal with down the stretch.

"He's just getting more and more comfortable on the floor in general and particularly at the position as we've used him," Utah coach Quin Snyder said. "We're going to keep using him that way. We're trying to figure out the ebb and flow of the game."

The Hornets initially seized momentum behind efficient 3-point shooting in the third quarter. Charlotte went 8 of 12 from 3-point range in the third quarter to charge in front of the Jazz after trailing 50-42 at halftime.

Utah extended its lead to 63-52 on a 3-pointer from Hayward. Then Walker and Williams answered with consecutive 3-pointers to kick-start a 14-2 run and put the Hornets up 66-65.

Once Charlotte had momentum, the Hornets kept it going. Walker totaled 12 points in the third quarter to help fuel the offense. He topped it off with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that gave the Hornets an 82-73 lead entering the fourth quarter.

"They were hot and, mentally, we just had too many breakdowns defensively," Johnson said. "They made us pay."

Utah cut the lead to 86-82 early in the quarter behind a 3-pointer from Hill. The Hornets extended the lead back to double digits, going up 92-82 with 8:37 left, after back-to-back 3-pointers from Marco Belinelli and Williams.

Then the door slammed shut for Charlotte's offense. The Hornets missed 16 of their final 19 shots from the field and fizzled out on the perimeter at a critical time.

"Frankly, with the way our team is built, if we don't shoot the three better and get in our defense better, it's going to be hard for us to play well consistently," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. "We're not going to go 8 of 12 every quarter, but we've got to make threes. The quality of our threes are very good and we got to start making them."

Charlotte took control early in the first quarter behind four quick baskets from Frank Kaminsky. He drained back-to-back jumpers on the first two possessions for the Hornets and added a layup and a 3-pointer to reach double figures a little over two minutes into the game. Kaminsky's scoring outburst gave Charlotte a quick 12-3 lead.

The Hornets carved out a 16-6 advantage on a banked jumper from Williams, capping off a stretch where they made 7 of 8 shots to open the game. It set a tone for an opening quarter that saw Charlotte shoot 12 of 20 from the field.

Utah cut the deficit to 16-12 behind a pair of jumpers from Hayward and Hill. The Hornets rebuilt a double-digit advantage again, going up 28-16 on back-to-back baskets from Miles Plumlee.

Dante Exum soon took over and willed the Jazz back into the game. He drove for a layup and drained a 3-pointer before the quarter ended to ignite a 15-0 run. Exum capped off the spurt himself with a dunk off a steal and another layup, giving Utah a 31-28 lead.

Once in front, the Jazz kept finding baskets to keep Charlotte at arm's length over the rest of the half. Hayward scored back-to-back baskets to put Utah up 50-42 -- its largest lead before halftime -- with one minute left in the second quarter.

NOTES: Charlotte played without C Cody Zeller and G Ramon Sessions. Zeller missed his third straight game with a quad contusion. Sessions sat out after tearing lateral meniscus in his left knee at Golden State on Wednesday. ... Jazz SG Rodney Hood did not play after suffering a LCL sprain and hyperextended knee against Milwaukee on Wednesday. PF Derrick Favors returned to the Utah lineup, however, after a two-game absence. ... Hornets SG Nicolas Batum is one of five NBA players averaging at least 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game this season. Batum has produced 14.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists per contest in his first 47 games. ... Utah SF Gordon Hayward scored 20-plus points on eight or fewer made field goals in 19 games this season, which is the third-best in the NBA.