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One player. One team. Two different directions.

While the Jazz trudge toward the finish line, rookie forward Derrick Favors is playing like Utah's stretch run of the 2010-11 season is a tune-up for the NBA playoffs.

It's not. The Jazz (37-43) were eliminated April 1 from postseason contention and have dropped 10 of 11 games.

But the 19-year-old Favors has been fearless in his past three contests, averaging 13 points on 62 percent (18 of 29) shooting and 7.6 rebounds.

Favors' finest outing came Saturday during a road loss to San Antonio, when he recorded a season-high 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting, five rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal in 29 minutes.

Utah coach Tyrone Corbin has been reluctant to start Favors, despite the fact that the Jazz's season is technically over. Corbin prefers to bring the No. 3 overall pick of the 2010 draft off the bench, waiting until a favorable matchup appears and slowly building the rookie's confidence. Corbin has been willing to experiment with Favors, though, teaming him with Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson in the same lineup. The big-man trio gives Utah an imposing front line — one that scored 56 points and collected 16 rebounds in a loss to the Spurs.

Favors statistically outperformed Millsap — who slides down to small forward when the trio is on the court — on Saturday, recording 13 of his 17 points in the second half. And the 6-foot-10, 246-pound former Georgia Tech standout has exceeded expectations since joining the Jazz via a midseason trade, averaging 8.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 20 games, while shooting 52.8 percent from the field.

Only two regular-season contests remain for 11th-place Utah, which sits two games ahead of Golden State in the Western Conference standings.

The Jazz have slogged through a 10-30 stretch since starting the year 27-13, and the team is only 6-20 under Corbin, their first-year coach. —

Jazz at Hornets

P At New Orleans Arena

Tipoff • 6 p.m.

TV • ROOT Sports

Radio • 1320 AM, 1600 AM, 98.7 FM

Records • Jazz 37-43, Hornets 46-33

Last meeting • Hornets, 121-107, OT (March 24)

About the Jazz • Utah did not sign guard Kyle Weaver to a second 10-day contract. Called up March 31 from the NBA Development League, Weaver averaged 5.6 points, 2 rebounds and 1.4 assists in five games for Utah. … Gordon Hayward has recorded 19 points on 5-of-12 shooting during his past two games. The stretch follows a season-high 22-point performance Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers. … Raja Bell, Andrei Kirilenko, Ronnie Price, Kyrylo Fesenko and Mehmet Okur are out due to injuries.

About the Hornets • New Orleans is tied with Memphis for seventh place in the Western Conference standings. … The Hornets have won four of six games and are 6-3 since losing forward David West to a season-ending knee injury. … Monty Williams has guided New Orleans to the playoffs in his first year as head coach.