BSJ Game Report: Hornets 121, Celtics 118 (OT) - C's their own worst enemy in late collapse

Everything you need to know about the Celtics loss to the Hornets, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

Jaylen Brown buoyed the Celtics during a sloppy start but Boston opened up a lead thanks to Payton Pritchard going 4-4 from 3. Then Jayson Tatum went off for 23 points in the second to push the lead to 18, but the Hornets cut that to 11 at the half. They got it down to one in a sloppy third for Boston. An all-bench lineup held things down to start the fourth and it looked like the Celtics were pulling away but a late 9-0 Hornets run sent the game to overtime, and Miles Bridges hit a 3 that was just enough for a Hornets win.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Getting what they deserve: Boston was up nine with 2:20 to go, which really isn’t much in today’s NBA, but it should be enough to beat the Hornets. But Boston gave up two offensive rebounds and putbacks in the final two minutes, Tatum missed a layup, and Jrue Holiday missed two free throws up two with :11 left. The Celtics should have won that game by 15 by blocking out and finishing down the stretch. 

- Defense lacking: The Celtics gave up easy looks in transition and they gave up 17 offensive rebounds. They made some really bad defensive mistakes down the stretch. Tatum completely falling asleep and giving up this dunk was a killer.

via GIPHY

TURNING POINT

The 9-0 closing run by the Hornets to tie the game. The Celtics missed four shots and two free throws in that stretch. Once Charlotte tied the game, you know they’d find a way to close this out. 

There was a low key turning point earlier in the game When Boston was up 53-35 and it looked like they were on their way to an easy win. Charlotte outscored them 19-12 the rest of the second quarter, which doesn’t sound like much but an 11-point halftime lead is much different than being down 20-plus. It’s too early for an actual turning point of the game, but they kept it close and it was clear they weren’t going to lay down.

THINGS I LIKED

- Payton Pritchard: He wasn’t just hot from 3 (5-8), he was making plays off the bounce and crashing the boards. This was the exact kind of game he needed to have. This drive was great. 

via GIPHY

The way he used his shoulder to clear some space and get the layup off against a bigger defender was awesome. That kind of stuff is where Pritchard can really show his value. 

- The bench: Joe Mazzulla went full-bench to start the fourth and after a little bit of a rocky start, they held their own. That was actually going to be my turning point had Boston held on for the win because that stretch without Tatum and Brown could have gone very badly, but they gave the starters an eight-point lead when they checked back in. 

- Jayson Tatum’s offensive game: He was brilliant, especially early, on his way to a 45-point night. Hard to ask him to do more than that … except hit that third free throw to tie the game. He also had 13 rebounds and six assists.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Jayson Tatum’s defensive game: The back cut was brutal, but Tatum clearly found time to rest on the defensive end to help himself get through nearly 44 minutes on the back-to-back. 

- Jaylen Brown: He looked like he was on his way to a spectacular game in the first quarter. He had eight points and one assist but a few potential assists as he was seeing the floor very well. Then he checked out and things were different once he returned. He missed a lot of shots, committed too many fouls, and things just slowed down. And his 3-point attempt in overtime was one of those shots that looks god awful when it misses but we talk about what kind of stones he has when he makes it. He missed, so it was awful.

- Missed free throws: The Celtics had been perfect on clutch free throws coming into the game, so I’m going to chalk this up to one of those nights, but man those two misses by Holiday with :10 left and the overtime free throw miss by Tatum are torture. The game was over with Holiday at the line. That was a wrap. 

- The last play of regulation:

via GIPHY

I would not have had Sam Hauser inbounding the ball. He’s a spacer in this situation. Why not have Holiday inbound? 

Secondly, any basket would have won it, so there are a plethora of options in this scenario. Tatum getting the ball in the corner like that is way too limiting. The baseline and sideline are de facto defenders, so a double team is virtually guaranteed to work. 

I would have tried to get him in the middle of the floor and running an action with Porzingis. Inbound the ball to the biggest guy, set pin-down for Tatum to come up and get the hand-off, and then flow into a pick-and-roll. Maybe in the process someone breaks free for a backdoor cut in the chaos. 

They needed more options there. 

- Sam Hauser: It’s feast or famine with him. Either he’s hitting everything in sight or it’s a 1-9 night from 3. 

- Jrue Holiday: Seven turnovers. Whew. It wasn’t a bad overall game because he did have some moments, but it was very hit or miss. 

- Kristaps Porzingis: He was just ice-cold shooting in this game. He was 1-8 from 3 and 6-10 from the line. Boston missed an opportunity to punish the Hornets, though, because he was drawing fouls and they never really took full advantage of that mismatch.

- This “Kornet Kontest”: 

via GIPHY

I can’t use the language I want to use here, but let me just say I have hated this move of Luke Kornet’s since the beginning. I don’t think it works. And doing it this time instead of just boxing out Ball led to an offensive rebound and bucket. 

Honestly, I’d fine him every time he did it from now on. I know fans think it’s funny and all that, but it drives me up a wall. 

- Bridges hitting the game winner: Anyone but him. 

HIGHLIGHTS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- This needs to be a lesson they actually take to heart: In the grand scheme of things, this loss isn’t the biggest deal in the world. You obviously don’t want to see it happen, but over the course of 82 games, a late collapse on the back end of a back-to-back to end a road trip is going to burn a lot of teams. 

But Boston has been flirting with this kind of result for three games now. Offensive rebounds have been problematic for them for a while now. The same kinds of things continue to haunt them, and at some point they have to decide it’s enough. 

I know they were missing Derrick White and Al Horford, and they would have made a big difference, but they had this thing won without them. They shouldn’t need those guys to beat a team like Charlotte. 

These issues are fixable. Now is the time to fix them before they become a bigger deal.

- Fix the officiating: After a ref clearly missed an out-of-bounds on Joel Embiid a couple of weeks ago when she was looking directly at the play, this crew blatantly botched the end-of-game timing. 

Just like the Embiid play, this isn't what lost the game. That's why I didn't mention it until the very end. But this is so incredibly bad that it reinforces every negative stereotype people have about refs. 

A second and a half comes off the clock and nothing is done about it. I'll repeat myself from the last time: In a world where millions of dollars shift nightly from gambling on these games, mistakes like this are magnified. These kinds of mistakes just can't happen. These are supposed to be the best refs in the world, but mistakes like this undermine them.

Next up: The Celtics return home to face the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night