Walker Kessler needs to play more minutes if the Utah Jazz are to win games.

The Utah Jazz nearly blew their second-half lead against the Charlotte Hornets, and wouldn't you know it, the lack of Walker Kessler may have had a big reason for that. The big man only played five minutes and forty-nine seconds in the second half of the game. He came in near the end of the third quarter and left right after the start of the fourth quarter.

During the second half, the Charlotte Hornets outscored the Utah Jazz 75-52, and if it wasn't for the fact that the Jazz had an 82-47 lead at halftime, the Jazz likely would've lost this game. When Kessler finally got into the game with 3:26 minutes left in the third quarter, the Hornets had gone on a 25-16 run, roasting the Jazz's perimeter and interior defense at ease.

Though when Kessler came in, the Hornets started pulling up from mid-range and shooting threes far more, forcing the Jazz's defense to step up and try and stop them. Fouls were also a major issue that the Jazz couldn't seem to stop falling into. Kessler's presence didn't cause the Hornets to stop scoring but how they scored changed up drastically. Really, only one or two shots happened in the paint during the end of the third quarter.

And by the time the fourth started, Kessler wasn't around long enough to really help matters. The Hornets still out-scored the Jazz in the fourth to not only close out the game but nearly pull off an upset of massive proportions. It's unclear why Kessler was scapegoated for the bad defense, but it could be that Will Hardy decided that the Jazz needed to outshoot the Hornets, knowing the perimeter defense was just that bad.

It could explain why he didn't try playing Kessler with Kris Dunn in the second half, as you'd think the two of them would've made an impact on some level. Clearly, the Jazz need to start using their defensive players like Kessler earlier in games and far more often if they hope to win games. Asking Jordan Clarkson and John Collins to carry a team during a defensive collapse can only be a catastrophic situation made worse.