What: Charlotte Hornets (18-56) (10-26 home) vs Boston Celtics (58-16) (26-13 away)
When: 7:00pm Eastern
Where: Spectrum Center; Charlotte, NC
How to watch: Bally Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass
Outfitting: Hornets–Classic (teal), Celtics–Statement (black)
Game Lines: Hornets +16.5, O/U 216.5
Injuries:
Hornets: LaMelo Ball-out (ankle), Cody Martin-out (ankle), Seth Curry-out (ankle), Mark Williams-out (back), Aleksej Pokusevski-questionable (tummy ache)
Celtics: Jaylen Brown-questionable (hand), Kristaps Porzingis-questionable (hamstring), Jaden Springer-questionable (knee)
The Hornets are unpredictable when they play the Celtics. They’re always significant underdogs on paper but usually hang around pretty well save for one 35 point loss last season. The Hornets actually lead the season series 1-0 after winning the first meeting in overtime back in November. In that game, LaMelo Ball (RIP) scored a team high 36 points while Mark Williams (RIP) added 18 points and 18 rebounds. Gordon Hayward (RIP) added 20 points of his own.
As the RIPs will tell you, this is not the same Hornets team that won that game. Of the nine players that suited up for the Hornets that night, there’s a decent chance that Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges will be the only two of those that suit up for the rematch.
The Celtics have been a juggernaut all season long. They’ve already clenched the one seed in the East and hold an 11 game lead over the second place Bucks. They have by far the best offensive rating in the league and the third best defense to go along with it. They don’t move the ball super well, but they don’t need to. Jayson Tatum is one of if not the best one on one scorers in the league, and if he gets going, there’s not much anyone can do to stop him. He scored 45 points in the first meeting with the Hornets this season and is averaging 41 per game against the Hornets in five games over the last two seasons.
The Hornets haven’t had any luck containing Tatum, but they’ve been able to compete with the Celtics regardless. Their better bet is probably to try to limit the amount of open catch and shoot threes the supporting cast get. The Celtics put up a league high 42.4 3-point attempts per game and hit 39.0% of them, 0.1% off the league lead. Tatum getting his will be frustrating to deal with, but it’s probably the better alternative than the Celtics hitting two dozen threes at a 40% clip.
