Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler is one of the NBA’s top shot-blockers. Entering Saturday night’s game against the Charlotte Hornets, the former Auburn standout ranked third in the league with an average of 2.7 blocked shots per game, and Kessler led the NBA in block percentage.

That didn’t prevent Hornets rookie Brandon Miller from taking the basketball to the hoop against Kessler in the second quarter and jamming in a highlight-reel dunk.

Miller’s dunk came with 9:09 left in the first half, but only reduced Utah’s lead to 54-32.

The Jazz won the game 134-122 as former Alabama standout Collin Sexton had 24 points and a career-high 13 assists for Utah.

Also a former Alabama standout, Miller finished with 12 points as he went 0-of-7 on 3-point shots.

The second player picked in the 2023 NBA Draft, Miller entered Saturday night’s contest with a 14.8-point scoring average in 37 games for Charlotte. Miller scored 97 points in a four-game span before having only five in the Hornets’ 138-104 loss to the Houston Rockets on Friday night. Miller made 14-of-31 3-point shots in his four-game scoring spree.

“His dad played football at Alabama,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said when asked about Miller after the game. “You can tell he came from a family where he got work ethic. He’s coachable. He brings a lot of intangibles.”

Kessler did block three shots against Charlotte to go with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

Utah improved to 24-23 while the Hornets fell to 10-34.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.