The Celtics Snap A Three-Game Losing Streak & Take The Season Series (2-1) From The Hornets

 

    I'm done trying to make sense of the Celtics (33-30 overall, 20-12 home) or this goofy NBA season. Just when I had left them for dead yet again, they shut up the doubters for a night as they beat the Hornets (30-32 overall, 14-19 away) 120-111 this evening at the TD Garden. Boston had lost three games in a row including a 125-104 blowout in Charlotte on Sunday followed by last night's humiliating 119-115 loss to the Thunder (21-41) who entered riding a 14-game losing streak. The C's also did this without the services of their top two point guards as Kemba Walker (oblique) remains out and Marcus Smart was suspended for a game since he threatened officials on Tuesday. It's nice to see that he's really grown up after all these years of stupidity. Shooting guard Jaylen Brown (game-high 38 points, 7 rebounds) and swingman Jayson Tatum (35 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists) became the first Celtics teammates since 2006 to each score 35+ points in the same game. 

    This final score is misleading because the C's were up 20 points after a first quarter (39-19) in which Brown (20) single-handedly outscored the Hornets by himself. Charlotte chipped away at the lead, cutting it to 58-47 at halftime and 88-80 going into the fourth quarter but Boston held on for the much-needed victory. The other two standouts for the Celts were a pair of unlikely heroes: center Tristan Thompson (12 points, 13 rebounds, 2 blocks) had a double-double and rookie small forward Aaron Nesmith (career-high 15 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 blocks) made the most of his 31 minutes off the bench. Brewster Academy's Devonte' Graham led the Hornets with 25 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two blocks while center P.J. Washington and small forward Miles Bridges (2 steals) both added 19 points in the loss. Former Celtics great Terry Rozier (15 points, 7 assists) was terrible as he shot 4-of-18 from the field including 1-of-8 on 3-pointers which felt like a fine tribute to his old teammate Smart. Center Cody Zeller scored 16 points off the bench in just 17 minutes. 

    Boston shot 5.3% better from the field than Charlotte (47.8%-42.5%), they hit two more 3-pointers (15-13), grabbed 21 more rebounds (54-33), had two more steals (9-7), blocked three more shots (8-5), scored 10 more points in the paint (54-44) and nine more second chance points (19-10). The win kept the Celtics in sixth-place (out of the play-in round) in the Eastern Conference but they are still tied with Miami (33-30) who is in seventh-place based on tiebreakers. Boston is one game behind Atlanta (34-29) and two games behind New York (35-28) with nine games left in the regular season. This four-game homestand continues on Friday (7:30, NBC Sports Boston) as the Celts welcome the Spurs (31-30 overall, 18-11 road) to the Garden. San Antonio is in ninth-place in the Western Conference, tied with the Grizzlies (31-30) and half a game in front of Golden State (31-31). This contest is very important to them as well since while they look destined to compete in the play-in round, they can still improve their seeding for that.

If You Didn't See A Minute Of Hornets-Celtics This Afternoon, Consider Yourself A Very Lucky Person

 

    Even on a rainy Sunday afternoon, the Celtics (32-29 overall, 13-18 away) sure didn't give us any reasons to pay attention to them for long today as they got blown out 125-104 by the Hornets (30-30 overall, 16-12 home) at the Spectrum Center. Charlotte shot an absurd 48.8% on 3-pointers (21-for-43) and they handed out a season-high 39 assists as well. Four Hornets scored at least 20 points led by point guard Devonte' Graham (24 points, 9 assists); center P.J. Washington added 22 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, former Celtic Terry Rozier notched 21 points, 11 assists and five rebounds while small forward Miles Bridges put up 20 points and six rebounds. With the loss, Boston fell two games behind both New York (34-27) and Atlanta (34-27) for fourth and fifth-place in the Eastern Conference. The C's are in sixth-place, tied with the Heat (32-29) and now only a game and a half in front of the Hornets.

    It was just never really competitive as the Hornets were up double-digits in the first quarter which allowed them to cruise from there. Power forward Cody Martin had 13 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two blocks in the win while another former Celtic-Brad Wanamaker-piled on with 12 points and two steals off the bench for Charlotte. There really was no excuse for suffering such a beating as other than center Robert Williams (left knee soreness), Celtics head coach Brad Stevens had about as close to a full lineup as he has used at any point of this cursed season. Point guard Kemba Walker (6 rebounds and 2 steals) along with shooting guard Jaylen Brown (8 rebounds and 2 steals) both paced the C's with 20 points apiece. Swingman Jayson Tatum (19 points, 11 rebounds) had another grimy double-double since he shot 6-of-16 from the field. Guard Marcus Smart (17 points) helped cut it to a six-point in the third quarter but that was as good as it would get for Boston.  

    The Celts return home for a critical four-game homestand: they host the awful Thunder (20-40 overall, 11-19 away)-who have lost 13 games in a row!-on Tuesday (7, NBC Sports Boston), followed by a rematch with Charlotte on Wednesday (7:30, NBC Sports Boston), the Spurs (30-29 overall, 17-10 away) are here on Friday (7:30, NBC Sports Boston) and it ends on Sunday (7:30, NBC Sports Boston) with Portland (32-28 overall, 16-12 away) who have lost five straight games. These are all winnable games for the C's although I could also seeing them losing the last three. Haha if they lose to Oklahoma City-who is tanking like you read about-I won't know what to say.