Final: Celtics 118, Hornets 104 - Tatum, Hauser drop 25 each

BOSTON CELTICS at CHARLOTTE HORNETS

7 p.m. - NBC Sports Boston

Line: Boston - 17.5

INJURIES

Boston: Jaylen Brown (QUESTIONABLE, hand), Kristaps Porzingis (QUESTIONABLE, hamstring), Jaden Springer (QUESTIONABLE, knee), JD Davison (OUT, ankle)

Charlotte: LaMelo Ball (OUT, ankle), Seth Curry (OUT, ankle), Cody Martin (OUT, ankle), Mark Williams (OUT, back), Vasilije Micic (QUESTIONABLE, shoulder), Aleksej Pokusevski (DOUBTFUL, illness), Nick Richards (QUESTIONABLE, foot)

NOTES

• Charlotte is on a back-to-back.
• This is Boston's final game of a six-game road trip

LAST TIME

Hornets 121, Celtics 118 (OT) 

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.

THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR

1. Effort: I’ll be honest … I’m preparing myself for the worst tonight. I’m not 100% sure the Celtics are going to be fully engaged, mentally. I think this is going to be one of those three-quarter effort games that frustrates a lot of people. And then I’m going to say it doesn’t matter and people are going to get mad at that. So hopefully the Celtics take pity on me personally, play well, and win. 

2. Limit second chances: This is a byproduct of the effort. The Celtics will do just enough to get the stop but then not grab the rebound. They could have beaten Atlanta twice if they had just cleaned up the boards. 

3. Get Sam Hauser going again: He’s 5-17 over his last three games (but the second game was 3-6, so really only two rough shooting nights). Let’s see him get a few decent looks and get him going again. 

Follow along with my thoughts as the game goes on. They’ll show up below and in the comments section, so hop in and share your opinion as well.