The Celtics’ second road win in as many games came about as differently from the first as possible. After cruising to a blowout victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday, Boston finished up their first back-to-back of by winning a 140-129 OT thriller over the Hornets in Charlotte.
The teams traded blows early, with Charlotte throwing the first punch by jumping out to a 27-17 lead. Without Al Horford, the Celtics frontline saw new faces get playing time, including Jabari Parker. Parker changed the first quarter by providing instant offense off the bench, finishing with 11 points in the opening stanza alone.
After Parker’s offense brought the Celtics back, no team was able to gain significant separation until early in the fourth quarter. A Jalen McDaniels three-pointer with 6:27 left capped off a 12-2 Charlotte burst to give the Hornets a 113-102 lead.
At that moment, Jayson Tatum re-entered the game for Boston, and momentum quickly swung towards the Celtics. Behind Jaylen Brown, Tatum, Marcus Smart’s defense, and Celtics head coach Ime Udoka intentionall fouling 22% free-throw shooter Mason Plumlee, Boston inched their way back.
After the two teams traded missed threes while tied at 122, it was the Hornets with the basketball and the shot clock turned off. Smart, however, had other ideas. Out of the timeout, the Celtics guard stole the inbounds pass and gave Boston a chance to win it with 8 seconds left. The Celtics were unable to get a clear look at the rim, and the game headed to overtime.
After Boston fell behind 129-126 with just over two minutes remaining, a Dennis Schroeder three followed by a Brown three gave the Celtics a 132-129 lead they would never give up.
As the Celtics improved to 2-2 on the year as a team, here is a look at how they performed on an individual level: