Final: Celtics 115, Hornets 112

The Celtics’ third unit redeemed themselves on Sunday night, outplaying the Hornets second unit down the stretch on their way to a 115-112 victory over the Hornets in preseason action.

Kyrie Irving had the heaviest workload of any Celtics regular and make the most of that extra run. He scored 20 points in 29 minutes on 7-of-14 shooting, and also dished out a team-high four assists. Jayson Tatum caught fire in the second quarter, scoring 13 of his 16 points in the frame after missing his first six shots from the field.

Al Horford (sprained right wrist) watched from the sidelines as the Celtics offense caught fire with the regulars during the second quarter putting up an efficient 40 points. Terry Rozier was impressive for the second straight game (13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) while Marcus Morris (12 points) was red hot from 3-point range (4-of-6).

Rookie Miles Bridges led the Hornets with a game-high 23 points, putting together his second consecutive while Willy Hernangomez added 14 points.

Third Quarter Notes

• Sluggish third quarter on the defensive side out of the gate, led to an early timeout for Stevens


• Hayward continues to struggle with his offense, in what should be no surprise after such a long absence. He finished 1-for-7 over 21 minutes.


• Rob Williams got a chance with the regulars over Daniel Theis midway through the third quarter. A promising sign for someone who is expected to be buried in the rotation as a rookie.


• Marcus Morris got into a nice rhythm from beyond the arc, knocking down four of his six attempts on the night., C's overall having a nice bounce-back shooting performance from downtown after hitting just 19 percent on Friday night.


• Kyrie Irving ends up getting the most run of any regular on the night and he looks good doing it, scoring a game-high 20 points in 29 minutes while dishing out a team-high four assists. No other Celtics played more than 22 minutes.

• Celtics wings using their size advantages for mismatches a lot. Tatum/Hayward/Brown creating good looks down low in the post against smaller players.  


• Hayward working well as a facilitator, drive and kick to Kyrie. Shots aren’t floating as naturally yet from him, which is understandable.


• Baynes keeps beasting on offensive glass


• Rozier keeps looking smooth with his offense, hitting another midrange jay. First player off the bench in both games as Stevens goes smaller with Tatum heading to bench.


• Hayward three fouls in first six minutes, having trouble staying in front of quicker players.


• Red hot start for Terry Rozier in the second straight preseason games with eight points in six minutes.


• Jayson Tatum with a rough shooting start, mostly from midrange. He’s 0-for-5 from the field.


• Not a banner start for the Celtics defense either as they allow 58 percent shooting and 32 points from the new look Hornets offense. Lots of emphasis on shooting and weaving by James Borrego, which has led to plenty of open looks.


• Tatum starts 0-for-6 before thunderous alley oop lob from Rozier


• Tatum plus bench unit getting plenty of run.


• Rozier is everywhere on both ends of the floor.


• ]Great minutes from the second unit + Tatum lineup here. Starting quarter with an 11-3 run.


• Smart letting the other guys fire, he didn’t attempt a shot until 10 minutes into the game (hitting a wide open 3). A positive sign


• Celtics start the quarter on a 27-13 run behind the sustained energy on both ends of the floor.

• Al Horford will be sidelined for the second preseason matchup after suffering a sprained right wrist during the first half of Friday's loss to the Hornets. "He’s feeling a little bit better as we inch towards game time but won’t play," Brad Stevens said before the game. "Say a wrist sprain -- I don’t know exactly the level -- but it doesn’t sound like it’s a -- it’s not going to cut into any of the early part of the season, it doesn’t like. He’s going to see our doctor and we’ll get final word on that. Might be seeing him right now."


• Marcus Smart will be back with the team and active after missing Friday's game for personal reasons.


• This week begins a busy stretch of the preseason for the Celtics as the team will have a game or scrimmage five times over nine days before getting nine days off before the regular season opener against the Sixers.


• Stevens was not pleased with the offense after watching the team hoist up 47 3-pointers in the loss to the Hornets on Friday night. He wants to see both units be more aggressive attacking the paint. "I thought our offense was bad the other night," he said. "We’ve gotta do a better job of trying to attack the paint and making plays that come off the pass. The other night we had 12 assists so we emphasized that in the last 48 hours and we’ll see if we move it a little bit better."