The Boston Celtics got punched in the mouth early by the Charlotte Hornets and never really recovered, falling to the Hornets 125 – 104 on the road Sunday afternoon.
Charlotte jumped out to an early, big lead in the first quarter, nearly winning wire-to-wire with a barrage of 3-point shots despite being down several key rotation players. Boston, healthy apart from starting center Robert Williams III, looked disengaged on defense early, and unable to maintain a consistent focus throughout the game. The Celtics allowed the Hornets to shoot 50.5% from the floor and 48.8% from beyond the arc while connecting on only 38.6% of their shots from the floor overall.
Jaylen Brown led the team with 20 points and 8 rebounds, with Kemba Walker close behind with 20 points and 6 boards, while Jayson Tatum put up 19 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
FINAL: Boston 104, Charlotte 125 pic.twitter.com/EIEYZLiI28
— Celtics Stats (@celtics_stats) April 25, 2021
With Boston dropping the matinee to Charlotte, they now fall to 32 wins and 29 losses on the season, good enough for a statistical tie with the Miami Heat with tiebreakers placing them in the East’s sixth-place spot for the moment.
The team next faces the Oklahoma City Thunder at TD Garden on Tuesday, April 27 at 7 p.m. Eastern Time before a home rematch with Charlotte on Wednesday.
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