Boston Celtics
Boston crushed Charlotte from behind the 3-point line — 24-for-44, good for 54.5 percent from deep.
Jayson Tatum’s five 3-pointers were a welcome sight. AP Photo/Nell Redmond
Jayson Tatum was brilliant in Charlotte once again, and the Celtics bolstered their NBA Cup group stage prospects immensely by annihilating the short-handed Hornets 119-80.
Here are the takeaways.
Jayson Tatum still loves playing in Charlotte
Tatum previously drew the ire of Charlotte fans by taking the mildest of digs at the franchise when explaining why he tries to play whenever possible if the Celtics are on the road.
“I don’t decide we’re playing the Hornets tonight and I’m going to chill,” Tatum said in 2023. “I only get to go to Charlotte two times a year.
“Somebody paid their money to come watch me play. I’m not trying to be arrogant, but there’s a bunch of kids in there with my shoes and my jersey.”
Three years later, Tatum is still giving kids who show up wearing his jersey in Charlotte a show. Tatum started hot, scoring 18 points in the first quarter, and he never really cooled off — he played just three quarters but still finished with 34 points on 9-for-16 shooting. If the Hornets had managed to keep the game even remotely competitive, he very likely would have finished with a 40-point triple-double — notching eight rebounds and nine assists.
“It’s like one of my second or third homes being back in North Carolina,” Tatum told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin after the game. “A lot of Celtics obviously, a lot of Duke fans, I got a lot of family connections out here, so I love coming back here”
The Hornets were very banged up, but even if they had been at full health, they would have had essentially nothing for Tatum. Brandon Miller started the game on Paul George, and when he was switched onto Tatum, he was overmatched. Royce O’Neale can’t do it. Neither can Naz Reid. No one else was particularly close to matching Tatum’s unique blend of size, speed, strength and skill, especially when the Celtics were able to run plays that forced a defender to get onto Tatum’s hip.
Meanwhile, Tatum’s five 3-pointers were a welcome sight — he was shooting just 22 percent from deep previously, and if Friday’s game helps get him back on track, the win will accomplish several goals at once for the Celtics.
Tatum might not want to take it easy just because he’s playing the Hornets, but by putting in his work early, he was able to chill in the fourth quarter.
The Celtics have faced and will face much tougher tasks as their tough month of November kicks into gear, so nights like Friday will feel like a welcome reprieve.
The Celtics are now in good Cup shape
The Celtics now sit in first place at 2-0 in Group C. The Hawks, who defeated the Wizards on Friday as well, didn’t play in Week 1 and are 1-0.
The Celtics still have games against the Wizards and Hawks before the group wraps up, but if they finish tied with any team at the top of the standings, Friday’s game will be a massive boost — tie-breakers are decided first on head-to-head, then on point differential. Friday’s 39-point win combined with their 14-point victory over the Bulls in the first Cup game have given them a +53 point differential.
If the Celtics beat the Wizards on Nov. 24, there is a very good chance that their point differential will essentially guarantee them a place in the knockout rounds, even if the Hawks go undefeated and beat the Celtics in the final Cup game of Group C on Nov. 27, and — of course — a victory over the Hawks would accomplish even more.
Essentially, the Celtics are likely one win from the knockout rounds.
“We’ve yet to make it to the [NBA Cup] Finals,” Tatum told Abby Chin. “Obviously it’s not the ultimate goal, but it’s important. You want to compete, and it’s something to try to win, so [we’ve] got to go after it.”
The Celtics were blazing hot from 3-point range
The Celtics are just eighth in 3-pointers attempted per game this season so far at 40.2 — a massive drop-off from the 2024-25 season when they sent the NBA’s online discourse into paroxysms about how they were ruining basketball by taking 48.2 per game.
On Friday, however, they crushed the Hornets from behind the 3-point line — 24-for-44, good for 54.5 percent from deep.
Almost everyone got into the action: Tatum made five, while Derrick White and Payton Pritchard knocked down four apiece.
Only Neemias Queta, Mitchell Robinson and Mike Conley (who we will get to) failed to get in the makes column.
The Hornets are extremely banged up (and not very good)
Entering Friday’s game, the Hornets were without Kon Knueppel, Moussa Diabate and old friend Grant Williams.
Then late in the first quarter, Brandon Miller came up limping after a nice drive and finish at the rim. He left the game in the second quarter and never returned due to a groin issue.
That left a Hornets team that already looked barren without LaMelo Ball in dire straits. Naz Reid is a good player but not a No. 1 option. Grayson Allen is an NBA player, but he went 0-for-5. Tidjane Salaün — who the Hornets did not exercise their rookie-scale option for in 2027-28 — scored 13 points, but he needed 3-for-11 shooting to do it.
The Hornets have the worst offensive rating of any team in the NBA by a wide margin — the 29th-place Utah Jazz, who are also having a howler of a season to date, are clear of them by more than four points — and only the Bulls’ utter inability to stop anyone is saving the Hornets from the worst net rating in the league.
Some modicum of credit is due to the Celtics for not taking their foot off the gas like they did against the Bucks on Wednesday, which nearly resulted in an embarrassing loss, but even if the Celtics had gotten off at an exit to fill up their tank and grab a bite to eat, it’s not entirely clear whether the Hornets team that took the floor on Friday would have ever caught up.
Neemias Queta started again, but Mitchell Robinson looked a little better
Queta seems to have worked his way back into the starting lineup for the time being, which makes sense statistically — lineups featuring Queta in the early going are out-scoring opponents by 14.5 points per 100 possessions, while lineups with Robinson are being out-scored by 12 points per 100 possessions.
Robinson still wasn’t an overwhelming positive on Friday — despite playing 15 minutes in a game the Celtics won by 39 points, he was just +6 — but he threw down multiple alley-oop dunks and looked a little more engaged as a screener.
Mike Conley helped in garbage time
The Celtics, again, were never in any serious danger of losing Friday’s game after their opening spurt, but in a Cup game, maintaining and growing their point differential mattered, and Mike Conley played a surprisingly important role.
Joe Mazzulla sent his starters to the bench in the fourth quarter, giving Hugo González extended run, as well as the little-used-but-freshly-signed Ron Harper Jr.
Often an opposing team makes up some ground when the regular rotation players go to the bench, but Conley — ever the consummate professional — actually helped the Celtics build their lead, finishing +5 in the box score. He didn’t score and he dished out just one assist, but he ran the offense very reliably and defended surprisingly well for a 39-year-old.
If the Celtics are ever short-handed at guard for a game or two, Conley looks fresh and ready to put in an actual shift.
What’s next
The Celtics’ road trip continues on Sunday with a rematch in Milwaukee against the Bucks.
Then comes perhaps the most anticipated game of the regular season to date: On Tuesday, the Celtics will visit Philadelphia to take on the 76ers and Jaylen Brown. Expect a lot of overwrought coverage of how Tatum and Brown interact (we are quite sure we’ll contribute to it here), and then maybe don’t be overly surprised if an emotionally drained Celtics team gets smacked the next night on a back-to-back in Toronto.
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