1. Lack of Effort
Coming off a blowout win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, the Celtics got a taste of their own medicine against the Charlotte Hornets, getting crushed 118-89. This game was a rough watch all the way around. It felt like the Hornets had a 20+ point lead in this game from the start and the Celtics just didn’t match the intensity.
In the postgame press conference, Joe Mazzulla stressed the fact that Boston was 4-18 on layups in the first half and went 11-33 for the game. Charlotte also finished
with 22 fast break points, showcasing Boston’s lack of transition defense.
2. Awful Shooting Night
The missed layups were a small part of the overall issue with the Celtics offense. Boston shot 30-79 (38%) from the field and 10-36 (28%) from three. Boston’s offense was so bad at the half that Brown and White had 30 of Celtics 43 points.
I credit the Hornets defense for really stepping up big and locking down the Celtics in this game. They were able to get great contests on Boston’s shot attempts from beyond the arc, but it also just felt like one of those games where the Celtics couldn’t buy a bucket. In addition to the Celtics struggles, Charlotte also outshot Boston in this game, shooting 41-89 (46%) from the field and 19-49 (39%) from three.
3. Lost the Turnover Battle
One of the best parts of Boston’s game this season has been their ability to both force turnovers while also not giving them up. The Celtics lead the NBA in giving up the least amount of turnovers with 12.2 a game this season and rank 2nd in turnover ratio at 12.8%. In this game against the Hornets however, the Celtics lost the turnover battle, giving up 15 and only forcing 4.
Boston just had too many careless possessions that the Hornets turned into 10 steals and 21 points off turnovers. Some of them were great defensive plays from Charlotte, but a lot of them were just them kicking the ball out of bounds, bad passes, and sloppy play that looked like the Celtics were not prepared to play.
4. Nothing From the Bench
The Hornets bench absolutely dominated the Celtics bench, outscoring them 44-26. Coby White was the main contributor for Charlotte, scoring 17 points on 6-9 shooting while Luka Garza led Boston with 9 points. The biggest problem for the C’s bench was the lack of production from Payton Pritchard and Nikola Vucevic.
Vucevic had a tough night in 17 minutes where he finished with 7 points on 2-10 shooting. Pritchard on the other hand finished with zero points for the second time in three games on 0-6 shooting. I feel like there has to be an injury that Pritchard sustained at some point since coming off the west coast road trip where he dominated to goose eggs twice in a week just feels off.
It wasn’t out of the ordinary to see them struggle, but Boston will need more than 7 combined points out of this pair if they want to make any serious noise against contenders.
5. Derrick White Scoring
In all the negative to take away from this game, Derrick White’s scoring was a real positive. He finished with 29 points on 9-17 shooting. In his last 6 games, White’s shooting has really started to turn around, shooting 42% from the field and 40% from three.
White had 17 of his 25 points in the first half and looked really confident when it came to his floater game. The three point shoot also looked really good despite finishing 3-9 overall. With the playoffs looming, it’s good to see White look like his shot is coming back.
6. Jaylen Brown Weird Night
On the surface it looked like a solid night: 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. However, he shot 7-19 from the field, had 3 turnovers and finished as a -20. It was an uncharacteristic night to say the least for Brown, but he did make some incredible plays, including a poster dunk on Moussa Diabaté, but he also had some baffling shot selection and bad turnovers.
Brown said postgame this is a “flush it” type of game and “today was not the best example of Celtic basketball, and we all can be better. And being a leader, I take accountability.”
7. Neemias Queta Injury?
Neemias Queta only played 16 minutes in this game and finished with 2 points and 2 rebounds coming off his career night against Philadelphia on Sunday where he had 27 points and 17 rebounds. The reason for his low minute total came in the first two minutes of the game when he was subbed out by Joe Mazzulla and the athletic trainer came over to check on his knee.
Queta would come back in and play 6 minutes in both the second and third quarters so it didn’t feel like anything serious. He didn’t look his best tonight but when asked about it postgame, Mazzulla said that “he’s good” in regards to the potential injury. There doesn’t seem to be a concern about Queta for right now, but it will be something monitor moving forward.
8. Luka Garza Looked Solid
In the absence of Queta, Luka Garza played some spot minutes in the first quarter and the entirety of the fourth quarter. In this time, he played pretty well, finishing with 9 points on 3-5 shooting. If Queta does have to miss time with this knee injury, it will give Garza a chance to come back in the rotation as the first big off the bench.
His full offensive bag was on display in the fourth quarter where he showed off a deceleration step, a tough shot underneath the basket, and a three pointer. I have faith that Garza will be able to hold up if there is an injury to Queta and the addition of Jayson Tatum at some point will bring more possibilities as a small ball center option.
9. Hugo Gonzalez, Fan Favorite
Coming into this game, Hugo Gonzalez had a career night against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday where he finished with career highs across the board with 18 points, 16 rebounds, and 3 steals. In this matchup, he had another solid game with 8 points and 6 rebounds, but what was really interesting about his performance was the crowd’s reaction.
Being in the building covering this game, there was a different energy when Hugo entered the game. He got a loud ovation from the crowd every time he touched the ball and it felt like the TD Garden crowd was going crazy. When he knocked down two three pointers in the first quarter, it felt like the crowd was cheering just a little bit louder. When he made a big defensive stop on Coby White, the crowd went berserk.
It might not pickup on the broadcast but you could feel it in the building. Hugo Gonzalez is quickly climbing up the ranks in Celtics fans love and could reach “fan favorite” status if he has any notable playoff performances.
10. Hornets are legit
Don’t look now, but the Charlotte Hornets are becoming a legitimate threat in the Eastern Conference. With their win over the Celtics, they are now 12-3 in their last 15 games and have slayed some of the best teams in the NBA including the Spurs and Rockets. This game was their 6th win in a row and a common theme in all of them is that they have come by a margin of 15+ points. It is tied for the longest streak in NBA history and no team had reached this milestone since the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors.
Charlotte got 56 points out of their three core young players in Kon Knueppel (20), LaMelo Ball (18), and Brandon Miller (18). They also got big contributions out of their depth guys in Coby White and Moussa Diabaté. The Hornets currently sit in 9th place in the Eastern Conference so they would have to escape the Play-In Tournament but if they make the playoffs, they will be a dangerous first round opponent. It would be cool to see a potential matchup between Charlotte and Boston in Round 1, but I would be nervous to face them.
Over the years, the Hornets just seem to have the Celtics number in random points of the season. Former Celtics assistant coach and current Hornets head coach Charles Lee has done an incredible job defending Mazzulla Ball at times and in a playoff setting with nothing to lose for Charlotte, it could be a dog fight.
