1. Locked In 4th Quarter
Boston did a great job of slowing down the Hornets attack to end the third quarter, finishing on a 10-0 run with all the momentum and a slim 90-87 lead. Once the fourth quarter started, the Celtics went to another level defensively, holding the Hornets to 15 points on 7-21 (33%) shooting from the field and 1-7 (14%) shooting from three. They did a great job of putting pressure on the Hornets ball handlers, forcing them into bad turnovers and running the fast-break the other way.
On offense, Boston
went on a 26-7 run from the 1:44 mark of the third quarter to the 5:48 mark of the fourth quarter that essentially iced the game. The Celtics shot 9-18 (50%) from the field and 3-9 (33%) from three in the quarter. Boston’s ball movement was a big key to their success, making multiple passes to find the open shot, demoralizing Charlotte’s defense.
2. Brown Takeover Mode
Jaylen Brown played a great game against the Hornets, finishing with 35 points and 9 rebounds on 13-29 shooting. Even after scoring 7 points in the first quarter, Boston got outscored 31-20 and just out flat. It was Brown who sparked the offense in the second quarter, finishing with 11 points on 3-6 shooting including his 2,000th point of the season, becoming the 8th player in Celtics history to hit that mark in a season.
Brown continued to carry the load for the Celtics, playing every minute of the second half, scoring 17 points on 7-15 shooting. Coming out of halftime, he shot 2-7 and the Hornets were still hanging around. Then he hit back-to-back shots to end the third quarter including a buzzer beater that got him back in the flow of his offense.
Brown had 8 points and shot 3-6 in the fourth quarter, forcing the Hornets to have Kon Knueppel switched on to him on defense and attacking the rookie on almost every play down the floor. He would get to his spot with ease and Charlotte had no answers to guard him. The Hornets looked gassed in the fourth quarter trying to keep up with the Celtics offense and Jaylen was a big part of that.
3. Walsh Energy Shifter
Jordan Walsh played maybe the most perfect game he could have against the Hornets in this one, finishing with 9 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, and doing all of the little things that kept him out there over Baylor Scheierman. Walsh’s ability to guard LaMelo Ball was a huge highlight in the second half, essentially shutting off the water to the Hornets’ entire offense.
Walsh played the final 7:31 seconds for the Celtics in the third quarter and was tasked with guarding LaMelo Ball who already had 32 points up until that point. Ball only scored 4 more points the rest of the quarter at the free throw line due to Walsh completely clamping him down. LaMelo only attempted one shot on Jordan Walsh and we saw Walsh do an incredible job navigating around screens to still contest Ball’s shot at the rim.
Walsh did everything he needed to do when it came to his offensive game, shooting 4-4 from the field and 1-1 from three. When he grabbed an offensive rebound that turned into a tip-in dunk in the second quarter, that is when I knew we were going to get a good offensive game from Walsh. When he is aggressive and looking to shoot, it makes his time on the court flow so much better for the Celtics. If the Celtics can get this version of Jordan Walsh for the rest of the season, he is going to find himself getting legitimate playoff rotation minutes off the bench.
4. Tatum Efficient Game
Jayson Tatum had some eye-popping stat-lines in his last few games but this one was just a clean 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists on 8-15 shooting from the field and 3-7 from three. Tatum did a great job of just taking what the defense gave him when it came to his scoring and finished with an efficient shooting night. I don’t know if it has something to do with playing the Hornets specifically but the two games that Tatum has arguably looked the most comfortable against has been Charlotte.
There was no hesitation on his drives to the basket and his three point shoot looked really smooth. The Hornets have a lot of mismatches on defense when it comes to guarding Tatum and he was able to take advantage on them all night long. Nothing made me more certain that he loves playing against Charlotte than the side-step three he made in front of the Celtics bench in the fourth quarter.
5. Queta Offensive Board Domination
Neemias Queta has been on fire for the Celtics over his last 4 games, averaging 17.5 Points, 9.0 Rebounds, 2.5 Assists, and 2.8 Blocks, on 73% shooting while finishing as a combined +104. In this matchup against Charlotte, Queta once again had a good performance, finishing with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block on 6-7 shooting.
The part of his game that stood out the most to me was the fact that 5 of his rebounds were offensive rebounds and all of them resulted in put back baskets for him. Queta did a great job of taking up space underneath the basket and keeping the ball high after coming down with the rebound to finish the play. If there was one knock on Queta’s game sometimes it was the fact he would keep the ball low and exposed for teams to poke it away, this game he took a real step forward in that department.
6. Pritchard Woke Up In Second Half
Payton Pritchard has had an incredible run over the last few weeks, averaging 20.1 Points on 53% shooting from the field and 51% shooting from three. However, against the Hornets he started slow with only 3 points on 1-3 shooting in the first half. Boston needed his scoring off the bench and he came up big time in the second half with 9 points on 3-5 shooting with all of his baskets coming from three point range.
Pritchard was great when it came to being a catch and shoot guy in this game, letting the Celtics’ ball movement end with the ball in his hands. There weren’t a whole lot of opportunities for Pritchard to have a big game so the fact that he was able to make an impact was big for Boston’s second half run.
7. Vucevic Played Almost Entire 4th Quarter
Nikola Vucevic did not have a great game through the first three quarters when looking at the stat sheet, finishing with 0 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists on 0-6 shooting from the field and 0-2 from three. Given his slow shooting start, it was a surprise when Joe Mazulla played him for almost the entire fourth quarter with Queta on the bench for the first 10:24. However, Vucevic played well along with the starters, finishing with 2 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals on 1-4 shooting in the fourth quarter and being a +9.
Vucevic’s work on the boards and his defense was a big reason why he was effective in this quarter. He was playing with energy even when only one of his shots were falling. This could be due to the face he sat the entire third quarter but I hope the ending to this game is the start of a run of positive play for Vucevic heading into the playoffs.
8. Positive Paint Presence
The Celtics did a great job when it came to rebounding and scoring in the paint against a team that has two centers in Moussa Diabate and Ryan Kalkbrenner who are known for clogging up the area in front of the basket. Boston out rebounded Charlotte 45-40 with 13 of those rebounds for the Celtics being on the offensive glass. Boston had 6 of them in the first quarter alone but the 3 they had in the fourth quarter were the real back breakers for Charlotte.
When it came to the points in the paint battle, the Celtics were also the superior team in that regard, outscoring the Hornets 44-32. Boston’s ability to finish layups at the basket was a big positive in this game, shooting 16-21 (76%) at the rim in this game, despite Charlotte having formidable defenders.
9. (LaMel0) Ball Don’t Lie
When you think of Celtics killers, LaMelo Ball might not be the first name that comes to mind but he has had some big games in his career against Boston. For his career LaMelo averages 26.1 Points which is well above his career average as well as 6.8 Assists, 6.3 Rebounds, and 1.o Steal on 45% shooting from the field and 38% from three.
Ball had another great game against the Celtics overall, finishing with 36 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds on 12-24 shooting from the field and 6-15 from three. Although these numbers look good on paper, he spent the final 19:31 of this game with only 4 points on 0-4 shooting and 0 points in the fourth quarter on 0-2 shooting. This was due in part to the incredible defense by Jordan Walsh in the third quarter but the fourth quarter saw Derrick White take over as the defensive stopper on Ball.
It felt like once the Celtics were able to slow down LaMelo Ball and forced the rest of the Hornets team to beat them, Boston was able to thrive in the fourth quarter. The defense Walsh and White played on LaMelo should not go by waist side but I can’t deny how good Ball was in this game. He was hitting some absurd shots from three and looked like he was just playing at a different level than everyone else. He has a very bright future of being the engine of the Hornets team moving forward and I can’t wait to see more matchups with him against Boston.
10. Magic Number is 1
Just like the Celtics game against the Toronto Raptors on April 5th, Boston could be on a collision course with Charlotte when it comes to the Play-In Tournament. With this win for the Celtics, their Magic Number to clinch the 2nd Seed in the Eastern Conference is down to 1. It could be official on Thursday April 9th when Boston goes to Madison Square Garden with a matchup against the New York Knicks. A win in New York clinches it.
For Charlotte they need to win this game when it came to the Play-In standings, starting the day in 8th place but finishing it in 9th, being leap frogged by the Orlando Magic. The Play-In is so close right now that the Hornets still have time to bounce back into a higher seed but I am not sure I want to see them in a First Round Playoff matchup against the Celtics.
I have a ton of respect for the Charlotte Hornets and their offense can be absolutely lethal against a higher seed that could over look them. I’m not total against playing them however, given the fact they have yet to have answer for when Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are the court together. Charlotte could push Boston to a 6 or 7 game series but I would have it finishing in a very hard fought 5 games.
