NBA Basketball
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4:00 PM PT5:00 PM MT6:00 PM CT7:00 PM ET0:00 GMT8:00 5:00 PM MST7:00 PM EST4:00 UAE (+1)01:0019:00 ET6:00 PM CTNaN:� , November 20, 2023 Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina Attendance: 19,134 |
Motivated Celtics look to stay hot vs. reeling Hornets
Boston Celtics at Charlotte Hornets
- The Celtics and Hornets meet for the first time this season, after Boston won all four meetings last season by an average of 18.5 points. The Celtics are 12-2 (.857) against the Hornets since 2019-20, their best record against any East opponent in that span.
- The Celtics are 11-2 for the third time in the last 10 seasons (2019-20, 2017-18) and are looking for their first 12-2 start since 2017-18. Boston has also made double-digit threes in each of its 13 games -- the longest such streak to begin a season in franchise history.
- Jayson Tatum has played against the Hornets 21 times in his career and has scored 40+ against them four times. The only Celtic to have more 40+ point games against a single opponent in team history is Larry Bird—seven vs. Trail Blazers, five vs. Hawks.
- Kristaps Porzingis had 26 points, eight rebounds, and six blocks Sunday against Memphis -- the first Celtics player with 25/5/5 since Al Horford on December 2, 2016. It was his eighth such game since 2016-17, only trailing Anthony Davis (24) for the most in the NBA.
- The Hornets have started 3-9 for consecutive seasons for the first time since doing so in 2008-09 and 2009-10. Charlotte is allowing 122.6 points per game so far in 2023-24, its most through 12 games in franchise history.
- Brandon Miller had career-highs in points (29) and threes (5) against the Knicks Saturday. He is the third Hornets player with 25/5 prior to turning 21 in franchise history (LaMelo Ball -- 10 times and Malik Monk -- twice).
The Boston Celtics have been among the best teams in the NBA for the first month of the season.
That's not the case for the Charlotte Hornets, who need something good to happen.
The teams with opposite types of streaks will meet Monday night in Charlotte, N.C., where the Celtics will conclude a four-game road stretch.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 26 points to lift Boston to its sixth straight victory on Sunday with a 102-100 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Even that wasn't totally satisfying for the Celtics, however.
"We got lucky enough to win that game," Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. "You can learn from losses. You can learn from wins. I didn't think we deserved to win the game because a lot of the stuff that we did."
So Mazzulla will have a motivational angle to use for the game in Charlotte. He said the Grizzlies played harder than the Celtics in Sunday night's game.
That's all part of the heightened expectations for the Celtics, who are led by Jayson Tatum's averages of 26.9 points and 8.7 rebounds a game.
"Guys in the locker room set a high standard for themselves," Mazzulla said.
The Hornets probably are in a totally different state of mind as they try to break a four-game losing streak. In home games, Charlotte has dropped six straight since winning the season opener.
Charlotte's offense has been regularly sparked by guard LaMelo Ball, who has reached the 30-point mark in five of the last seven games. He's averaging 24.4 points per game. With 25 or more points in each of those seven games, that's the second-longest Hornets streak in that category in franchise history.
Rookie Brandon Miller is coming off a career-high 29 points against the New York Knicks on Saturday night. Yet Miller is receiving hard lessons on the pro level about the necessity for focused defensive intensity.
"I think we kind of struggled maintaining our man in transition," Miller said. "I think that's just an effort thing with us, something we've got to clean up going into the game against Boston. Our focus is just individual defense. I think if we shut down a few players, we will have a great outcome in any game."
Miller's offensive skills have translated well in the early part of his NBA career.
"He does it the right way. He works in practice," Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said.
Clifford said the defense must be addressed across the roster with the team. The Hornets shot 49 percent from the field Saturday night against the Knicks, a rate that should be good enough to at least keep the team in tighter games.
The Hornets have lost by 14 or more points in three of the four games in their skid.
Ex-Celtics forward Gordon Hayward has scored a total of 12 points in 90 minutes across the last three games combined for the Hornets. He has shot 6-for-25 from the field in those games, missing all six of his 3-point attempts.
"That's something we have to work on," Clifford said of getting Hayward and P.J. Washington to pick up the pace offensively.
The Hornets were missing backup center Nick Richards, who was in the concussion protocol, on Saturday night.
--Field Level Media
Updated November 20, 2023
© 2023 by STATS PERFORM.Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS PERFORM is strictly prohibited.