The Celtics took care of business in a hostile environment.
Jayson Tatum had a team-high 29 points and the early leader for the Sixth Man of the Year Award, Payton Pritchard knocked down six 3-pointers on his way to 22 points off the bench as the defending champion Boston Celtics defeated the host Charlotte Hornets 113-103 on Saturday night.
It was the Celtics second victory over the Hornets in less than 24 hours.
Luke Kornet’s 19 points and Derrick White’s 18 helped the ‘Cs’ to their sixth win in seven games to kick off the season, and Jrue Holiday’s triple with just under four minutes remaining in the game, polished off his 13-point evening.
LaMelo Ball led everyone with 36 points, and the Hornets went 1-3 during a four-game homestand.
Second-year forward Brandon Miller, who had not taken the court since the Hornets’ season opener on October 23 due to a hip and glute injury, logged 31 minutes as a starter and contributed 16 points. Josh Green added a dozen, Cody Martin supplied 11 and Tre Mann had 10.
The Celtics made light work of Charlotte’s inept defense, carving it like a turkey on Thanksgiving in the first half giving them a comfortable 68-50 lead at the break.
However, Boston could not put the Hornets in their rearview mirror until late in the fourth quarter. Charlotte was within six, 93-87, after Green buried a trey with 6:49 left in the game.
But Holiday’s late shot from beyond the arc, was the catalyst for a 7-0 run that pushed the Celtics’ lead to 15, 108-93 with just 2:05 remaining.
For the second night in a row, the Celtics had a parade to the free-throw line, while the Hornets main source of offense was long-range shooting. Boston was 25-for-28 at the line compared to Charlotte’s modest 6-for-9 mark.
Still, the Celtics managed to finish with 16 3-pointers to the Hornets’ 17 for the game, with Boston drilling four in the first seven-plus minutes of the contest to race out to a 26-12 lead with 4:42 left in the first quarter.
Embed from Getty ImagesBoston attempted 52 shots from distance on the night. Tatum was just 1-for-9 on threes, but he went 14-for-17 from the charity stripe. Boy how the game has changed over the last several years.
Charlotte center Grant Williams, who was ejected from the game on Friday after committing a flagrant foul Penalty 2 against Tatum, was in the Hornets’ starting lineup on Saturday, but he managed only five points in 34 minutes.
The Celtics head down Interstate-85 to face Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night, when all 30 teams are in action.
The Hornets back their bags and head to Minnesota facing Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves on Monday night.
