Jayson Tatum had 32 points, five rebounds and eight assists to help the short-handed Boston Celtics extend their winning streak to three games with a 114-99 road victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night.
Boston (50-24) played without leading scorer Jaylen Brown (left Achilles tendinitis) and Derrick White (knee), who tops the team in average assists, steals and blocks. Brown, who is averaging 28.6 points per contest, has missed Boston’s last two games with the injury. The Celtics are 8-1 in games Brown hasn’t played in this season.
Payton Pritchard added 28 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Celtics, who received 17 points and eight rebounds from Neemias Queta. Pritchard has scored 64 points in his last two games.
Boston shot 14 of 34 (41.2%) from 3-point territory. Charlotte (39-36) was 12 of 43 (27.9%) from beyond the arc.
LaMelo Ball scored a team-high 19 points for the Hornets and Miles Bridges finished with 14. Charlotte received 13 points, six rebounds and four assists from Brandon Miller, and 13 points from Kon Knueppel, who was 1 of 6 of 3-point attempts.
Boston built a seven-point lead in the first quarter, which ended with the Celtics leading 27-21. Ron Harper Jr.’s 3-pointer capped a 12-0 run that handed Boston a 37-21 lead with 9:37 left in the second. The Celtics pushed their lead to 53-34 on a Sam Hauser 3-pointer with 5:31 remaining in the first half and led 63-49 at halftime.
A Tatum 3-pointer extended Boston’s lead to 75-55 with 6:42 left in the third, and the Celtics carried an 89-75 lead into the final quarter.
Charlotte was within nine following a Ball 3-pointer with 8:35 to play, but Boston responded with an 11-4 spurt to extend its lead to 106-90 with 5:57 left. The Hornets were never within striking distance the rest of the way.
