In a matchup between two of the NBA’s hottest teams, each having won 12 of their previous 15 games and riding winning streaks of three (Boston) and five (Charlotte), it was the Hornets who stayed hot, handing the Celtics a convincing 118-89 loss. The 29-point defeat marked Boston’s worst loss of the season.
The Celtics never led, marking just their second wire-to-wire loss of the season and their first since November 1 against the Houston Rockets.
“We just didn’t have it tonight,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said.
Rookie of the Year candidate Kon Knueppel led the way for Charlotte with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-8 from three. The 20-year-old out of Duke broke the NBA rookie single-season record for three-pointers made, previously set by Keegan Murray in 2022-23, on February 26, and now has a league-leading 216 and counting. He is shooting an impressive 43.6% from three this season on 8.0 attempts per game.
LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller scored 18 points apiece, while Coby White added 17. The win puts Charlotte over the .500 mark for the first time this season.
“They’re playing really well,” Derrick White said. “They’ve got a lot of talented players out there and a lot of guys that can shoot the ball. They’re playing unselfishly. And, defensively, they’re competing at a high level.”
White led the Celtics with 29 points, three assists, and two rebounds, while Jaylen Brown finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists. They were the only Celtics to score in double figures.
“Today wasn’t characteristic of us,” Brown said. “That wasn’t Celtic basketball. They had more energy than us. That hasn’t happened a lot all season long. Today wasn’t the best example of Celtic basketball, and we all can be better. And being a leader, I take accountability.”
Here are five takeaways as the Celtics suffer their third 20-point loss of the season, and fall to 41-21 on the season.
The Celtics’ offense couldn’t get much going
Boston never scored more than 25 points in a quarter. They shot 30-of-79 (38.0%) from the field and 10-of-36 (27.8%) from three. Add it up, and you get an 89-point night.
The misses came from all over, but head coach Joe Mazzulla specifically called out the missed lay-ups multiple times in his postgame presser.
“We went 4-for-18 on lay-ups in the first half,” Mazzulla said. “I think we 11-for-33, I think, in the game.”
There was no flow. No rhythm. It was as discombobulated as the offense has looked all season. The result was a putrid 93.9 offensive rating and 16 turnovers.
The poor offense led to defensive struggles
A missed lay-up often leads to points on the other end.
And those missed lay-ups from Boston were costly, helping fuel Charlotte’s transition attack and leading to 22 fast break points. The 16 turnovers didn’t help either.
Charlotte finished with 118 points on 41-of-89 (46.1%) shooting from the field and 19-of-49 (38.8%) from three. They also got to the free throw line 21 times, making 17.
The Celtics, who had held opponents to 100 points or fewer in 10 of their last 16 games entering Wednesday night, were probably due for a night like this.
Boston’s bench had a rough night
Payton Pritchard has played 408 NBA games. In games he has played at least 20 minutes, he has been held scoreless just five times. Two of those games have come in the last three games.
After being held scoreless Sunday against the Philadelphia 76ers, Pritchard was again unable to find the scoreboard Wednesday night, finishing 0-of-6 from the field, including 0-of-5 from three.
He didn’t get much help from the rest of the bench, either.
Most notably, Nikola Vucevic finished with seven points on 2-of-10 (20%) shooting. It is going to be hard for the Celtics to win games when those two combine for just seven points. It was a forgettable night for them.
All told, the Celtics were outscored 44-26.
The Celtics lost the margins
Typically, the Celtics’ attention to detail and their ethos of being the smarter, harder-playing team allow them to win the margins that Mazzulla places such high importance on.
That wasn’t the case on Wednesday. They lost the shot margin by 10 (89-79), three-pointers made (19-10), three-pointers attempted (49-36), and offensive rebounds (11-9), while also committing 11 more turnovers (16-5).
Winning those margins usually gives the Celtics a chance to overcome tough shooting nights, something they couldn’t do this time.
“We weren’t the harder-playing team tonight on either side of the ball,” Brown said. “We just weren’t the harder-playing team tonight.” |
Neemias Queta left the game in the first 90 seconds and wasn’t himself after
Queta was subbed out a minute and a half into the first quarter with what appeared to be a knee injury. He returned, but never seemed fully himself. A step behind for much of the night, he finished with just two points, two rebounds, a block, and two turnovers in 16 minutes.
Between him and Vucevic, it wasn’t a strong night for the bigs.
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