The Boston Celtics walked into Spectrum Center looking for retribution on Sunday night. Back on March 4, the Charlotte Hornets beat the Celtics 118-89, handing them their largest loss of the season.
But a lot has happened since then. Jayson Tatum happened. The very next game, Tatum returned to the Celtics’ lineup, and on Sunday in Charlotte, he enjoyed his best showing of the season.
Boston picked up a 114-99 victory, backed by Tatum’s 32-point night.
So, how did it all unfold?
1. Jayson Tatum’s monster night
It was about more than the points for Tatum. More than the threes. More than the shot selection.
It was about the movement.
There was no overthinking for Tatum on Sunday night. Every choice he made was quick. He was decisive, confident, and straightforward in his approach.
It all started with some tough drives to the basket.
The very first Celtics bucket of the game was a Tatum dunk. Brandon Miller stepped up to try to pressure Tatum above the 3-point line, and Tatum didn’t think twice. He went left, got past Miller, and the Hornets didn’t have time to react.
After a nice mid-range bucket, the Hornets paid Tatum some extra attention. But the Celtics superstar was more than ready for it.
A few minutes after that opening dunk, Tatum slowly broke down Boston’s defense on this play. As soon as Tatum got to his spot and pretended to rise up, Miller helped over from the wing.
That left Payton Pritchard wide open from beyond the arc.
And Tatum wasn’t just dominating isolation possession.
Here, in the pick-and-roll with Neemias Queta, the Hornets try to take away the drive by bringing Ryan Kalkbrenner out of the paint.
Boston runs the pick-and-roll high up the floor, and even though the Hornets like to keep Kalkbrenner in drop, they didn’t want to give Tatum a runway to drive.
But as soon as Kalkbrenner stepped up, Tatum knew what he had to do. He faked going left, immediately sprang out to the right, and finished a tough layup over Kalkbrenner’s outstretched arm in the paint.
From that point on, Tatum’s momentum only grew. He extended out to the 3-point line, draining triple after triple in Charlotte’s face. He dished out eight assists, making the Hornets pay for sending extra pressure his way.
At every turn, Tatum made quick, smart decisions that all contributed to his best game of the season so far (by a long shot).
There was a small stretch at the beginning of the fourth quarter when Tatum’s shots weren’t falling, and the Hornets were able to gain some traction by running off his misses, but that ended just as quickly as it began.
After a timeout from Joe Mazzulla, Tatum put a bow on an impressive night, sending the Hornets packing with a dagger.
And Tatum wasn’t just doing it all on the offensive end, either.
This isn’t an easy play to make. Kon Knueppel has enjoyed an incredible rookie season, and Tatum sticks to him like glue on this play.
He stays attached at the hip while getting through the screen and ends up blocking Knueppel’s jumper.
If the Celtics can get this version of Tatum -- not even the points, but the confident decision-making and efficient offense -- for the rest of the year, they should have a solid chance to make it out of the East (and then some).
2. Payton Pritchard’s scoring
It’s hard to describe just how dominant Pritchard is relative to his size. Every time it seemed like the Hornets had a chance to shut him down on Sunday night, he still found a way to score.
Tatum obviously led the charge, but with Jaylen Brown and Derrick White out, the Celtics needed Pritchard’s scoring. And he came through in a major way.
Pause this play. Pause it right before Pritchard gets his shot off. LaMelo Ball’s hand can’t be more than an inch away from the ball, yet the end result is still two points for Pritchard.
The timing of the play had to be perfect. If Pritchard had jumped an inch farther forward, Ball would have blocked the shot. If he had waited to turn around a fraction of a second earlier, Ball would have blocked the shot. But he had everything down to a science.
It’s more of the same on this play. As soon as Pritchard sees a glimmer of space to attack, he takes it, putting Liam McNeeley on his heels.
Then, in an instant, Pritchard stops on a dime, rises up, and scores over the outstretched arm of McNeeley.
Having Tatum and Brown is enough of an offensive advantage for the Celtics to make the most of. Having Pritchard, too, is the ultimate luxury.
His effectiveness with the ball in his hands drew so much attention from the Hornets that they (somehow) left Sam Hauser open behind the 3-point line.
Here, Pritchard puts Knueppel in a blender, and Moussa Diabate sinks into the paint to prevent a Pritchard drive ... leaving Hauser open.
Pritchard makes the easy pass, and Hauser sinks the three.
The isolation dominance of Pritchard was a perfect secondary scoring option for Boston on Sunday night.
3. The ups and downs of Baylor Scheierman
Brown and White’s absences provided Baylor Scheierman with more opportunities to help the Celtics’ offense flow.
On a normal night, Scheierman primarily works out of the corner. He’ll sink some side-step threes and drive a few closeouts, but he does a lot of his work off the ball.
And while he certainly benefitted from the spacing of Tatum and Pritchard on Sunday, the Celtics also needed him to make some more plays than usual.
Scheierman comes off a flare screen from Queta, puts the ball on the floor, and puts pressure on Charlotte’s defense. Then, at the last second, he pulls back and dumps the ball off to Queta, who nails a floater in the lane.
As the game went on, Scheierman got more active in the scoring column, too.
He nailed a few threes, helping to keep the floor spaced, but this shot at the end of the third quarter took the cake. Somehow, some way, he managed to get this circus shot to fall in the dying embers of the shot clock.
But Sunday night wasn’t all great for Scheierman.
In the first half, in particular, he struggled to keep up with Charlotte’s offense at times. As solid a defender as Scheierman has become, he still gets caught off-balance from time to time.
This type of play happened on a few occasions. Scheierman stayed with Coby White, but when White hit him with the turnaround, he was out of position, giving the Hornets guard an open shot.
If teams decide to go after Scheierman, which they have before, he needs to do a better job of sticking with them and staying attached.
4. The ups and downs of Jordan Walsh
After a solid showing against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night, Jordan Walsh got the start on Sunday in Charlotte. And outside of his inefficiency, he played well.
Look at the hustle Walsh exhibited on this play. He couldn’t corral the ball at first, but instead of giving up, he threw himself to the ground. Walsh beat the Hornets to the ball and threw a pass to Luka Garza, who found Ron Harper Jr. for a transition three.
Those are the types of plays Walsh brings to the table when he’s in the game.
However, like Scheierman’s occasional defensive mishaps, Walsh’s game also comes with some downsides. And this play is a clear example of both the positives and negatives.
First, Walsh comes up with an impressive offensive rebound, somehow tapping the ball to himself over Miller’s head.
But then, rather than resetting the offense, Walsh tries to immediately go back up with a shot.
Charlotte ran the floor after that miss, and Knueppel scored a layup in transition.
Walsh provides the Celtics with incredible energy. His defense and rebounding are game-changers. But his decision-making fluctuates at times, leading to possessions like that one.
5. Neemias Queta was a man amongst boys
The Hornets’ fast-paced offense, for the most part, is what defines them. Ball. Knueppel. Miller. An onslaught of 3-pointers. But their big men have been rock-solid this season.
Diabate’s insertion into the starting lineup helped ignite the shift in Charlotte’s season. And Kalkbrenner has had a very productive rookie season so far.
But Queta made them both look small.
Every screen, rebound, and bucket came with a touch of dominance from Queta. Yet the scoring that Tatum and Pritchard provided will inevitably overshadow just how well he played.
This play is straight bully ball.
Kalkbrenner is in the perfect position for a defensive rebound, but Queta comes crashing in. He bodies Kalkbrenner in the back, tips the ball to himself, then finishes with a tough bucket in the paint.
And he wasn’t just bullying Charlotte’s centers.
Watch how well Queta fills space on this play. As soon as the Hornets double Tatum, he moves into the center of the floor to make himself available for a pass. From there, the lane opened up.
Queta managed to dunk the ball from just inside the free-throw line, splitting the gap in the Hornets’ defense.
6. Ron Harper Jr. can do it all
Before exiting the game with a right ankle sprain (he eventually returned), Harper gave the Celtics a little bit of everything. And five plays perfectly sum up just how well-rounded his game is.
Obviously, the three he hit in transition (shown in the Walsh section above) is a testament to his skill as an outside shooter. He can space the floor when Boston needs him to. That’s the first play.
But he’s more than just a shooter. Listen to the audio from this clip. As Harper is looking to pass to Pritchard in the backcourt, somebody (presumably Mazzulla) is yelling at him: "Go Ron, go Ron, go Ron!"
Immediately, Harper takes off and beats the entire Hornets lineup down the floor, finishing a layup at the rim.
Then, there’s this rebound. Diabate had fought his way into the paint for the board, but Harper still came down with it in between two Hornets players.
The fourth play is all about defense. Harper looked like Derrick White on this play. He helps just enough to take away the Coby White drive, but he reads the play perfectly, picking off the pass attempt to Miller and finding a sprinting Pritchard in transition.
And the fifth and final play is exactly how Harper has found himself in Mazzulla’s good graces.
Mazzulla is all about gaining every possible advantage. Remember when he tried to block Royce O’Neale’s jump shot after a whistle? Well, when teams try to take heaves at the end of quarters, he expects his guys to play defense. No free points.
Look at Harper here. If the Hornets had made this shot, it would have been one of the longest makes in NBA history. But Harper jumps right in front of him and blocks it.
Mazzulla immediately starts clapping, goes over to high-five Harper, who also gets a string of high-fives from the rest of the team.
Harper knows how to make winning plays. Every time he’s touched the court for the Celtics this season, he’s proven that. Sunday was merely the latest example.