In a clash of two of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics found themselves ran off the floor by the Charlotte Hornets. Charlotte took an early lead, never looked back, and walked away with a 118-89 win in Boston.
Here's what stood out:
Sometimes it’s just not your night
It’s as the header reads. This, simply, was not the game for the Celtics. They quickly found themselves down by double-digits thanks to some cold shooting out the gates. Boston made just seven of their first 23 attempts from the field, while the Hornets seemingly couldn’t miss.
Charlotte started 13 of 20 overall and 6 of 11 from deep.
It didn’t help that the Celtics couldn’t convert when they got to the rim. Joe Mazzulla stressed his teams inability to finish during his postage availability, stressing their four of 18 mark in the first half.
From that point on, the skewed shot-making only worsened. Any time the Celtics would string a few makes together, the Hornets would come down and make a momentum-killing three to take the air out of the building.
There was no greater example of this than the Kon Knueppel three that hit the back rim, might as well have went up to the TD Garden rafters and came back down straight through the net.
The Celtics may have found something with Derrick White
If there was one silver lining from Wednesday’s blow out, it was Derrick White. White, who’s elevated his scoring since the All-Star break, led Boston in scoring with 29 points. He was about the only person who gave the Celtics reliable buckets as they tried to dig themselves out of the ever-deep hole they were in.
The bulk of his offense came from inside the arc. White consistently got to the paint and punished the Hornets with an onslaught of floaters. He converted on six of his eight two-point attempts.
Boston got him going with a handoff screen action at the top of the key, allowing him to get downhill with an advantage. It’d be interesting to see them run this more often to ignite The Buffalo.
Is Payton Pritchard okay?
Payton Pritchard logged his second scoreless game in less than a week. Boston’s (now) bench-scoring guard not only didn’t find the bottom of the net, but it was another instance of him lacking aggression.
Pritchard fired up just six shots against Charlotte in what’s becoming a startling trend. Wednesday was the third time in five games that he’s taken six or fewer shots.
For a guy who’s been the Celtics’ second-most effective scorer this year, he’s got to assert himself more. He has to do so without forcing, too. Surely he’ll figure it out, but it’s been an odd stretch, for sure.