Tonight’s game between the Boston Celtics and the Charlotte Hornets features two of the six worst teams in the Eastern Conference, but whereas no one expected the Celtics to be a playoff team this season, the same cannot be said of the Hornets.
A pleasant surprise last season when they were still called the Bobcats, the Hornets looked to build upon their success by reverting back to the team’s original, sexier name and by making a big splash in the offseason, luring shooting guard Lance Stephenson away from the Indiana Pacers. After years of dwelling among the league’s worst teams, the Hornets hoped to build a perennial championship contender.
Instead, Charlotte finds itself in familiar territory, with a crummy record, an anemic offense (the Hornets average 94.2 PPG), and some lengthy losing streaks on their resume (Charlotte snapped a ten-game losing streak by barely beating the Knicks last Friday). Stephenson has been a disappointment so far, with season averages of 10.4 PPG, 38.5% field goal percentage, and 2.6 turnovers per contest. All in all, this was not the sort of season Charlotte fans were hoping for, after watching their team develop into a solid playoff team in 2013-2014.
Meanwhile, the Celtics have actually over-achieved a little bit this season, sporting a revved-up offense that is currently the fifth-best in the NBA at 105.6 PPG. After stunning the Washington Wizards in TD Garden Sunday, the Celtics nearly pulled off an amazing come-from-behind victory, rallying from 23 points down to send the game into not one, but two overtimes, before losing 133-132. The Celtics may be fatigued, both physically and emotionally, heading into this game against a well-rested Hornets squad that has not played since Friday.
Well – at least Boston’s bench should be fatigued. Any starter not named Jeff Green, on the other hand, got to enjoy the fourth quarter and both overtimes against the Wiz, so I would imagine those guys are pretty well-rested and eager to prove that they deserved to see crunch time Monday. I’m particularly interested in seeing how impending free agent Rajon Rondo, who was relegated to the role of sideline cheerleader during Boston’s comeback, responds. Rondo didn’t manage to score even a single point against Washington Monday, and has been the definition of up-and-down this season. For a guy who wants to earn a max-contract salary during the offseason, he looks anything but.
Rookie Marcus Smart, on the other hand, had the game of his young NBA career against the Wizards. Can he bring that intensity and hustle to Charlotte tonight? And if he does, will Celtics coach Brad Stevens choose to play Smart over Rondo down the stretch if this game is close? That’s definitely a storyline to follow.
Tonight’s game tips off at 7 p.m. Follow us on Twitter @houdiniceltics as I strive to get better at making Vines! And check in with us all day long, and following the game, as we track Celtics news and how the Cs fared against the Hornets.