From a playoff seeding and positioning standpoint, there was absolutely nothing at stake for either the Charlotte Hornets or Boston Celtics when they collided at TD Garden on Friday night. With that being the case at this point of the season, 12 combined rotational players were unavailable for a game that the visiting Hornets lost handily, 131-98.
Unusual circumstances aside, Charlotte fell well short of claiming its first season series win over Boston in 23 years. Meanwhile, the Celtics avoided their first three-game losing streak of the campaign with a 36th seasonal home win, a threshold they reached for the first time since 1988 and for the fourth time overall in franchise history.
Without Nick Richards and Grant Williams, an already small Hornets team started Marques Bolden for the first time in his NBA career, with Aleksej Pokuševski backing him up. Boston capitalized on the size mismatch, tallying 18 paint points and eight more boards in the opening 12 minutes. That interior scoring turned into points off turnovers – 15 off eight takeaways – in the second, a frame the Celtics dominated, 39-19, for a 26-point halftime lead. Three Charlotte starters sat the entire second half, as Boston coasted to an extremely easy blowout victory.
Tre Mann (19 points) and Nick Smith Jr. (15 points, his most since Jan. 8 vs. Chicago) were the only Charlotte players to score in double figures, with the former also dishing out a team-high eight assists. The Hornets had a season-worst minus-20 rebounding differential (53-33), allowing 16 offensive boards for 18 second-chance points. They also registered only 20 assists and committed 20 turnovers, which went for a back-breaking 32 points in Boston’s direction.
“We just didn’t move the ball,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford after a game in which 12 different Hornets logged at least 12 minutes of action. “There was an unwillingness to move the ball to the open man. Then the rebounding, they crushed us on the glass. We’re going to struggle to rebound without Nick and Grant anyways. Everybody’s going to play. We want to give everybody a chance. That’s not an easy way to play for any of them. I thought we competed fine. We can play better, which is what we need to try and do on Sunday.”
None of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porziņģis, Derrick White or Al Horford suited up for Boston. Payton Pritchard notched a career-high 31 points on 14-of-22 shooting – with zero free-throw attempts – and 11 assists for his second double-double of the season. Luke Kornet had 16 points and 10 rebounds for a third career double-double, while Neemias Queta added 16 points, marking a new career high for the Portuguese big man.
The Hornets will close out their three-game road trip and 2023-24 regular season schedule against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, April 14 beginning at 1 PM ET. Follow all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.
Hornets vs Celtics Gallery ‑ 04/12/24
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