The Boston Celtics fell to the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday afternoon by a final score of 125-104. It was all Hornets for the entire duration, the Celtics came out very flat to start off the game. The Hornets would hit some big time shots with great defense to secure the victory.
The Celtics came out very flat on the defensive end, shooting just 2-8 from the field. The Celtics struggled to stop the hot Hornets offense. The Hornets displayed great ball movement and great offense in transition.
The Celtics displayed poor offense and poor defense. Towards the end of the quarter the Hornets could not be stopped. At the end of the quarter the Hornets held a 33-23 lead.
The Celtics did not have an answer for the Hornets offense; they were very hot from behind the arch. towards the end of the second quarter the Hornets kept shooting the ball well and playing great defense as the Celtics cut into the Hornets lead. The Hornets went into the locker room with a 63-52 lead.
In the third quarter, as the Celtics came out with a much better sense of urgency and energy and effort on the offensive end, cutting the Hornets lead 65-58 with 9:27 remaining in the third quarter.
Towards the end of the quarter the Hornets responded to the punch that was thrown by the Celtics as they led 91-79 with 3:47 remaining in the third quarter. The Hornets ended the quarter on a miraculous buzzer beater shot by Miles Bridges putting the Hornets up 100-88.
This quarter was guided by Marcus Smart and the Celtics driving and attacking the rim, as the Celtics were looking for some fire and energy on the defensive end.
In the fourth quarter, the game started getting away from the Celtics as the Hornets went on yet another surge extending their lead 110-96 with 7:25 remaining. The Celtics struggled to stop the Hornets hot offense as they continued to put this game out of reach at 120-100 with 1:46 remaining.
In the final minutes, this was all Hornets as in the final minutes the Celtics put in their reserves.
The Celtics had four players in double figures. Leading the way for the Celtics was Jaylen Brown with 20 points on 8-22 shooting, Kemba Walker also scored 20 points on 7-17 shooting. Jayson Tatum added 19 points on 6-16 shooting.
The Hornets had all five starters score in double figures. Leading the way for the Hornets was PJ Washington with 22 points on 8-12 shooting, also scoring was Cody Martin with 13 points on 5-9 shooting. Miles Bridges added 20 points on 7-14 shooting, and Devonte Graham posted 24 points on 7-14 shooting. Terry Rozier, Boston’s old friend also dropped 21 points on 8-18 shooting.
The Celtics drop to 32-29 on the season, and will return to the Garden and take on the Thunder on Tuesday at 7:00pm EST.
Photo via Sky Sports