3 Studs, 3 duds from Celtics 113-103 win over Hornets on back-to-back

Following a raucous ending to the Boston Celtics’ 124-109 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night, the guys in green stayed the night in North Carolina for a second straight contest against Buzz City on Saturday. Jaylen Brown was sidelined, so the rest of the squad had to step up.

And they did exactly that. The Hornets made a huge run early in the third quarter, but it wasn’t enough to take down the Celtics, who walked out of Spectrum Center with a 113-103 win, taking them to 6-1 on the season. LaMelo Ball had another nice offensive showing (and another bad defensive showing), but he couldn’t beat Boston.

Here are three studs and three duds from the Celtics’ win over the Hornets on Saturday night.

Stud - Payton Pritchard

After a rough shooting night on Friday, Payton Pritchard bounced back in a huge way. He made five threes in the first half alone, proving once again to be one of the best sharpshooters in the NBA.

In fact, through the first half of the game, Pritchard had made 28 threes on the season. The record for most threes off the bench in a single season belongs to Wayne Ellington at 218, and Pritchard’s four per game through the first seven had him on pace for 324.

Only Stephen Curry (x5) and James Harden have ever hit that mark.

Dud - Third-quarter composure

After a strong first half, the Celtics came out lifeless in the third quarter. On the contrary, the Hornets were lit ablaze. Charlotte went on a 17-2 run that cut down what was once a 21-point Boston lead to just three at one point.

Boston’s offense devolved into a sloppy, rushed mess that didn’t produce many good looks. And on the other end of the court, they were lazily leaving Charlotte’s shooters wide-open from beyond the arc.

The results were clear as day, and what could have been a blowout in favor of the Celtics quickly turned into a game again.

Stud - Jayson Tatum

Though his three-point shots weren’t falling (and they haven’t been in recent games), Jayson Tatum looked absolutely incredible in this game. He was picking the Hornets apart.

Every single time Tatum touched the ball, Charlotte sent a double team. And while Tatum didn’t rack up assists, his decision-making in those spots led to a ton of open shots for his teammates, even if he wasn’t the direct beneficiary in the stats department.

His work inside the arc was also very impressive. Despite missing his threes, Tatum was perfect on two-pointers through his first five attempts, proving his dominance at the basket.

Tatum needs to make his threes (or stop taking so many), but he was great in every other aspect of the game on Saturday night.

Dud - Jayson Tatum’s threes

Speaking of Tatum’s threes, they are going to get their very own category of the studs and duds list.

Tatum is one of the best scorers in basketball. And when his three-pointers are going in, he becomes even more lethal. But when they aren’t, he settles far too often. That’s what happened on Saturday.

Brian Scalabrine made a point on the broadcast about Neemias Queta missing a lob from Tatum, noting that if Queta made the shot, Tatum would drive more and take fewer threes. He called it a trust issue. But that shouldn’t determine whether or not Tatum drives the ball.

Obviously, with Queta in the game, there is a bit less space on the floor for Tatum to drive, but the solution shouldn’t be to take some of the threes he chucked up on Saturday.

Tatum’s decision-making behind the arc still needs some serious work.

Stud - Luke Kornet

Brown was out, but the Celtics decided to shake things up rather than putting Sam Hauser or Jordan Walsh in the starting lineup. Instead, they rolled with double bigs, starting Luke Kornet alongside Al Horford.

And Kornet played his role perfectly.

He ended up playing almost identical minutes to Horford, as his presence inside as a roller was exactly what the Celtics needed. Charlotte was without Mark Williams and Nick Richards, so Kornet thrived against a much shorter group.

While his rebounding numbers left something to be desired, he was battling in the paint on every single possession, opening up opportunities for others to snag boards.

Kornet’s effectiveness as a scorer was crucial for the Celtics, who were without Brown’s numbers. He gave them exactly what they needed.

Dud - Derrick White’s scoring

By most accounts, Derrick White wasn’t terrible in this game. His defense was as solid as ever, and his reliability with the ball in his hands was there. He even found a nice rhythm with Kornet late in the fourth. But the shots just weren’t falling.

With Brown sidelined, the Celtics needed some extra scoring, and White should have been one of the guys to step up in that regard. He just couldn’t find the bottom of the net.

White had a very inefficient evening despite putting up a decent scoring night. As noted, he was still effective in other areas, but White’s lack of a scoring punch hampered Boston on a night they would have loved his extra production in that category.