Don’t let anybody inform you in any other case – the Charlotte Hornets had been absolutely invested in successful this recreation in opposition to Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and the second/third unit of the Boston Celtics. Nonetheless, they had been unsuccessful regardless of gamers like Marcus Sensible, Malcolm Brogdon, Jayson Tatum and Al Horford all sitting out tonight attributable to relaxation because the Celtics picked up the 112-103 win behind Derrick White’s ultra-aggressive 18 factors, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and a pair of blocks.
The primary quarter had all of the makings of the type of recreation that makes you suppose, “oh, that is going to be a protracted evening.” The Celtics turned the ball over 9 occasions in simply the primary quarter, they usually appeared extraordinarily sloppy on each ends. Grant Williams, specifically, had a tough go, and Jaylen Brown was mainly simply performing some mild capturing apply on the market.
Boston went down by as a lot as 16 as LaMelo Ball’s scorching capturing had Charlotte’s offense buzzing. Effectively, let me concern a correction. Ball was establishing the Hornets, however they couldn’t purchase a basket for a protracted, lengthy stretch within the first half. The Hornets dominated the offensive glass, however they simply couldn’t get their photographs to fall. That’s an enormous purpose why the Celtics solely went down by 16. It may have gotten ugly. As a substitute, the Celtics fought again to make it a detailed recreation at halftime, they usually turned their deficit absolutely round within the third quarter to take a double-digit lead.
Tonight marked the debut of No. 91 – Blake Griffin. Griffin (7 factors, 9 rebounds) struggled to hit photographs from the sector, however that’s just about the one black mark on the evening relative to what’s affordable to count on from him now. Griffin’s defensive errors had been minimal, and his passing and spacing helped tremendously. He began within the third quarter over Noah Vonleh (who had himself a strong recreation as effectively – 14 factors, 13 rebounds), and he was a part of the lineup that propelled Boston into taking management of the competition.
Jaylen Brown performed this recreation to “maintain his rhythm,” which is truthfully truthful contemplating how good he’s appeared by way of the primary three preseason video games. Though his capturing cooled off barely, he nonetheless poured in 5 3-pointers on environment friendly capturing from behind the arc. Brown completed with a game-high 19 factors to go along with 5 rebounds.
Derrick White had one in all his most comfy performances of his time in inexperienced. On each palms, he was extremely energetic, and he stored the tempo up, which has been a notable level of emphasis for the crew. Whereas Sam Hauser (9 factors) did cool off a bit, he nonetheless poured in three 3-pointers whereas his spacing opened up Boston’s offense.
Off the bench, Payton Pritchard continued his offensive showcase with an array of inside and out of doors photographs. Justin Jackson rebounded from a depressing efficiency Wednesday evening in opposition to the Raptors tonight as he caught hearth with a number of 3-pointers within the third quarter. He completed with 16 factors.
For the Charlotte Hornets, Kelly Oubre put up 18 factors whereas Terry Rozier added 14 factors. LaMelo Ball’s full stat line: 23 factors, 10 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 turnovers. He additionally fouled out of the sport early within the fourth.
The Celtics transfer to 2-1 within the preseason with a remaining contest coming every week from immediately in opposition to the Toronto Raptors earlier than beginning the common season on October 18th in opposition to the Philadelphia 76ers.
