Fresh off of their first loss of the season, the Boston Celtics faced off against a pair of old friends on Friday night, looking to return to their winning ways. Visiting Charlotte to face off against former lead assistant coach Charles Lee, former Celtics forward Grant Williams and the Hornets, the Celtics found themselves facing a sturdier test than they might have anticipated. After 40 minutes of back-and-forth basketball, though, the Celtics managed to distance themselves in a fourth quarter that featured significant frustration — and multiple ejections — from the Hornets. The Celtics advanced to 5-1 with a 124-109 win.
Jayson Tatum had yet another strong early-season performance, leading the Celtics with 34 points and tacking on 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Jaylen Brown supplied 25 points of his own, but struggled to find his stroke from range, missing all six of his three-point attempts. Derrick White and Jrue Holiday combined for 31 points, and the Boston bench collectively contributed 29. For the Hornets, LaMelo Ball rode a big third quarter to 31 points, while Tre Mann followed with 23 points off the bench.
The Celtics opened the game in a slump, or at least what qualified as one for their lofty standards. They missed their first five three-pointers of the game, allowing the Hornets to put together a competitive start in the early minutes. Four consecutive Boston threes quickly righted the ship, however, and 16 first-quarter points from Tatum — his fourth double-digit first quarter in six games — quickly broke the game open. The Celtics entered the second quarter ahead by 15 points, 40-25.
With Horford sitting out on the front end of the back-to-back, as is customary, Joe Mazzulla dug deeper into his bench in the first half. While Payton Pritchard struggled to find his shot early (0-of-4 in the first half), Neemias Queta provided a spark in the frontcourt while Sam Hauser returned from injury and connected on a three. Youngster Jordan Walsh had another early appearance as well, quickly nailing a pair of threes in his first shift in the second quarter. This was a great opportunity for the deep end of the Boston bench to see meaningful minutes, and tonight, they acquitted themselves well.
The Hornets had answers as play resumed. Ball responded to Tatum’s double-digit quarter with one of his own, scoring 10 points in just the first three minutes of the second. Charlotte did most of their damage from the perimeter, with Ball, Mann and Seth Curry combining for 39 of their first half points. As the quarter wore on, the Hornets clawed back within striking distance, answering the 40-point Boston first quarter with 42 points of their own in the second. The Celtics’ lead dwindled as low as two points, and they entered the halftime break hanging on to a 71-67 advantage.
Defense began to find some purchase as the two teams adjusted after the halftime break, aided along by a decline in shot-making. At one point early in the third quarter, nearly three minutes of game time passed without either team recording a point. It was the Celtics who broke the run, with Tatum finishing a look at the basket, and they seemed to reenergize the scoring somewhat — for better and worse. The Hornets rattled off a 10-0 run late in the third quarter, drawing as close as one point of the Boston lead, but the Celtics held them at arms’ length as the quarter concluded. They carried a 92-86 lead into the final frame.
The young Hornets kept pushing as play resumed in the fourth quarter. Boston’s lead again dwindled down to a single possession, and hovered in that vicinity for much of the early minutes of the quarter. With just under eight minutes to play, the Hornets had a chance to tie when Mazzulla picked up a technical foul for stepping onto the court, but were unable to convert the free throw or score on the ensuing possession. It was a costly swing, as a foul call on Josh Green on the following Celtics possession put Charlotte in the bonus for the remaining seven and a half minutes of the ballgame.
The Celtics pounced on the opportunity with a quick 9-2 run, taking a 108-101 lead with 4:42 remaining in regulation. Five of those points came at the line, with the Celtics attacking Charlotte defense in the bonus — Ball recording his fifth personal foul of the game in the process. As the clock neared the four minute mark, it was Lee’s turn to pick up a technical from the sideline, granting Tatum a freebie to put the Celtics ahead by nine points.
The Hornets made their last stand as the clock ticked under four minutes remaining, with Mann and Bridges converting consecutive baskets to bring them back within six. It wasn’t enough, though, and it felt as if Charlotte had finally begun to run out of gas. Holiday connected on a three-point jumper to put the Celtics back up six, and with just over two minutes left to play, Williams committed a hard foul on Tatum near the half-court line that drew the ire of Brown and — more importantly — the referees. The play initially ruled a common foul, but upon review, the referees determined that Williams made significant contact on a non-basketball play, upgrading the foul to a Flagrant 2 and ejecting him from the game. Ball excused himself from the proceeds by committing his sixth foul moments later, and the whopping five consecutive free throws Tatum converted during the sequence finally put the Hornets on ice.
Next up, it’s déjà vu all over again for the Celtics, as they remain in Charlotte to face the Hornets a second time in as many days, Saturday at 6 PM EST on NBC Sports Boston.
