The Boston Celtics took care of business in their rubber match with the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night, claiming a 113-102 victory. Jaylen Brown (35 points and nine rebounds), Jayson Tatum (23 points, five rebounds, and four assists), and Neemias Queta (12 points, five rebounds, and a block) led the way for Boston as they captured their fourth straight win.
Here’s what stood out:
Jordan Walsh seems to have earned the final rotation spot
Tuesday marked Jordan Walsh’s seventh straight appearance after a long series of DNP-CDs. Over these past two weeks or so, it seems that he’s regained the trust of the coaching staff with the playoffs right around the corner.
It’s clear why.
The sharp, energetic boost that Walsh gave Boston throughout November and early December is back.
Whether it was knocking the ball off of LaMelo Ball after a rebound to get Boston an extra possession, sprinting the floor to create a much-needed easy bucket in transition, or simply playing great defense on Charlotte's ballhandlers, Walsh did it all.
He finished the night with nine points and six rebounds on a perfect 4-4 performance from the field in 18 minutes.
Still not the greatest Vucevic night
Sunday’s Easter return for Nikola Vucevic could’ve gone better after the big man spent a month recovering from a broken finger. He, in that game, looked like a guy who’d just missed a month.
Unfortunately, the same can be said for Tuesday.
Vucevic missed some open shots that he probably should’ve made and didn’t really make the winning impact the team would’ve hoped for. There’s a clear hangup when it comes to spacing and how he fits into the offensive flow at times.
There were some flashes in the second half of the positives Vuc brings, but nothing nearly as great as many would’ve hoped.
It doesn’t mean it’s a permanent issue. It doesn’t mean the Celtics should bench him. It just means he isn’t quite where they need him to be yet. Before the win against Charlotte, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens emphasized how important the week of practices before the playoffs will be for the big man as he continues to return to performance.
There will come a point, however, that the team will have to decide if they’re better off continuing to try him, or to just revert back to playing Luka Garza, who is a great low-usage option on offense.
Payton Pritchard doesn’t miss important shots
It doesn’t matter what the night is looking like for Payton Pritchard. He could be having a dreadful few quarters, stepping out of bounds on the sideline, turning the ball over, etc. and he’ll still be reliable as ever when it’s time to take the big shot.
This game didn’t always look like it was going to go Boston’s way. There was a point in the second half where the Hornets had captured momentum, largely because of Celtics turnovers, and seemed to be in full control.
Pritchard's shot making played a huge role in the Cs getting themselves out of the rut and turning the game. He made two third-quarter triples as part of a 10-0 Boston run to end the frame.
Midway through the fourth, he sank a big momentum three to extend the Celtics lead to seven points and cap off a great sequence of ball movement from Boston.
Pritchard ended up with 12 points, four rebounds, and three assists, which doesn’t sound like much, but again, those points were loud.