Hornets Get First Loss of the Season

The Charlotte Hornets are no longer unblemished, losing to the Boston Celtics in overtime by 11, 140-129.

Despite the 11-point margin, this was a hard fought, nip-and-tuck game, where the Hornets looked like the better team for large portions of the game. However, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown’s elite shooting ability were a little too much for the Hornets to overcome, with little resistance on the defensive end from either side.

The tandem of Miles Bridges and LaMelo Ball continued to play outstanding basketball through their first four games of the season. Bridges and Ball had 25 points apiece, but it was still a team effort for the most part. Seven players for the Hornets scored at least 10 points.

Hornets Kelly Oubre Jr. began the game unconscious from 3-point range, connecting on his first five threes of the night. Unfortunately, he went ice cold after his efficient start. As a whole, the Hornets were hot from behind the arc. They finished 19-44 (43.2%) from range.

The Celtics’ strategy was to switch everything on defense and the Hornets used that to their advantage. It led to an abundance of three-point attempts. Boston did not shoot as well from 3-point range (38%), but they did put up a few more shot attempts. The Celtics attempted 50, while the Hornets only took 44.

Jayson Tatum was on fire for the Celtics. He had a game high 41 points and could not be stopped from the mid-range. Grant Williams set great screens for him all night. The Celtics did a great job getting Tatum easy looks from everywhere on the floor.

Jaylen Brown also played extremely well for the Celtics on Monday night, scoring 30 points, collecting nine rebounds, three assists and 3 steals. New acquisition Dennis Schroder had 23 points and was a key contributor off the bench as he shot 6-14 from the field and 4-9 from 3-point range. That trio, along with a surprising 13 points from journeyman Jabari Parker, led the team in scoring.

The Hornets took advantage of their speed and out hustled the Celtics. Ish Smith and Ball led the charge and Boston had a difficult time keeping up with the electric backcourt.

The Celtics kept fighting back throughout the game and they were a constant thorn in Charlotte’s side. They played poorly on defense until overtime, but they were able to turn up the pressure to keep themselves in the game. The Celtics erased a 12-point fourth quarter lead as Brown started to heat up.

The game went into an extra session and that is when the Celtics took over. Brown hit a couple of clutch shots, including a huge dunk over Bridges and the Celtics got a big, early season win on the road.

“We don’t love these overtime games, but it builds toughness mentally as well as getting in shape and playing through these,” said Celtics coach Ime Udoka. “But we just kept chipping away. We jumped it up a little bit and did a few different things trapping wise and sped them up and the guys had to obviously make shots on the other end.”

Both teams were playing on the second night of a back-to-back, and Hornets coach James Borrego felt his team was “gassed out” down the stretch.

“They are tough, physical and they do this to most teams in the half court,” Borrego said of the Celtics. “They are long, they are physical, they switch out. We will find ways to get better as we go. We are trying to do the right thing and this is another process in learning and will help us down the road.”

The Celtics Robert Williams had 12 points and 16 rebounds. Hornets Kelly Oubre Jr. added 19 points. Ball fouled out late in the game due to a couple of frustration fouls.

Up Next: The Boston Celtics will host the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night. The Charlotte Hornets are now 3-1 on the year. They have a chance to bounce back from this loss on Wednesday when the play the Orlando Magic.